My hero
by Stripes93
Summary: AU. Alfred awakes at night to hear his twin brother screaming. Getting up he finds Mathew being defiled by their vile adoptive French father. He does the only thing he can do...protect what is his. Rated T for language and suggestive rape More info inside
1. First Kill: Bye dad

It was late at night when Alfred heard it, almost two in the morning if the clock read right. It was a small sound, muffled by the door and seeming to come from across the hall way, from his adoptive father's room. Alfred groaned, placing the pillow over his head. _'Not tonight, damn it.'_ he thought, shutting his eyes tightly. Him and his twin brother had been adopted over a year ago by some French guy who's purpose in life it seemed to be was to shag everything under the God forsaken sun, no matter if it was male or female! It always carried on until the wee hours of the night, normally managing to wake Al who had to either block out the noise or bang on the door for his father and new partner-it was never the same person-to stop. The noise got louder and Alfred pressed the pillow against his ears before something occurred to him. He knew that sound. Sitting up, Al looked over to the empty bed next to his where his brother should be. "Matt," he whispered, throwing his Captain America sheets off of him and bolted out the room, quicker than he had ever run before.

He threw open the door to his father's room, finding Francis pinning down poor Mathew onto the bed, Matt with out pants on and his underwear down. Nobody moved, nobody even seemed to breathed while Alfred took in the scene, his sleepy mind taking a moment to process what his blue eyes were seeing. His adoptive father...trying to rape his brother! Immediately Alfred's instincts took over. He threw himself at Francis, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulled him away from Mathew. "Get your fucking hands off my brother!" he shouted, throwing him to the ground. Even though the boys were only thirteen Alfred seemed to have more strength than Francis and Mathew had put together.

"Alfred-" The French man started but was cut off with a sharp kick to the side.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your fucking mouth!" Alfred yelled, blue eyes glaring murderously at the man on the ground. "Matt, you okay?" he asked, his voice a little gentler.

"I-i-i...I'm fine," Mathew whispered, wiping his eyes then pulled his pants up.

"Did he touch you," Alfred whispered lowly, his eyes daring Francis to even think about getting up.

"I-i...he-"

"Did. He. Touch. You?" Alfred asked again, turning his head to look at his brother. "Did he?"

"...Yes..." Mathew whispered, eyes glistening as he broke down. "Yes!" he wailed.

"You...fucking...BASTARD!" Alfred screeched, beginning to kick his adoptive father over and over again in the head. "How dare you rape my brother!" His leg was then caught and pulled, forcing him to fall backwards.

"That is enough, Alfred!" Francis said sternly, standing up, his face bleeding from where he was attacked. He held the boy up by his leg, glaring at him. "_Assez_!" he growled.

"Let me go!" Alfred crowed, wiggling around in the air. "Let me go, bastard!" He was then hit so hard he began to see stars.

"I said...enough," Francis growled, throwing the boy onto the floor. He then received a swift kick to the back of the head.

"Fucking...bastard." Alfred muttered before the world went dark.

He awoke, not knowing how much time had passed but knowing he was hearing the tortured sounds of his brother. "Matt!" he screamed, standing up. It was dark. Where was he? He tried to open the door but it was locked. "Hey! Let me out!" he screamed, pounding on the door. "Mattie! Mattie!" he screamed, trying to ram the door open but it wouldn't budge. That bastard was going to die! Backing up the little bit of space he had, Alfred kicked at the door with all his might, managing to throw it off it's hinges. Alfred raced out of the closet and into his room, digging through his dresser drawer and pulled out a .9mm gun. Francis- an okay father-never really bothered to wonder what the two boys did in their free time, much too busy with his own love life. Alfred had bought the gun just a few months ago, fearing that one of Francis' partners could possibly be dangerous, especially that one guy with the bushy brows. He just screamed creep! Alfred had never imagined he would have to use this on his own adoptive father.

Checking to make sure it was loaded and the safety was off, he crept his way to Francis' room and the agonized screams of his brother. Opening the door a crack, the blond boy looked in, having to hold back a feral and very animal like snarl that started to build in the back of his throat. With a growl, Alfred kicked the door wide open and aimed the gun at Francis. The French man stopped and looked directly at his son, eyes wide. "A-alfred, _cheri_..." he whispered, for the first time in his life actually scared of a child. "What..what are you doing?"

"Get off...my little brother." Alfred growled, slowly walking in, keeping the gun aimed.

"A-alright," Francis slowly rose, taking a quick glance at Matt who groaned after finally being released. "Now, p-put the gun down, Alfred." he stuttered. Alfred cocked the gun, and the naked man gulped. "Alfred...please..." he whispered.

"Too late, fucking bastard. Go burn in Hell." Alfred said calmly, taking three steps closer, pressed the gun into Francis' head and shot.

Blood and brain splattered everywhere, covering the wall, floor, and Alfred. Francis dropped to the floor, lifeless eyes rolling into the back of his head. Turning the safety back on, Alfred put the gun in his back pocket then turned to his little brother. "Mattie," he said quietly, Mathew staring at him with wide eyes. "Mattie...I won't hurt you." he said, taking a tentative step forward, the boy flinching as he did so. That hurt worse than being kicked in the back of the head. "Mathew...please...don't be scared. I won't hurt you," Alfred whispered, taking another step forward. He then held out his hand, eyes wide and pleading for Mathew to believe him. "Please, Mattie..." With a cry Mathew then threw himself at his brother, wrapping his arms around him and cried. "Shh, it'll be alright." Alfred told him, petting his blond hair back. "It'll be alright. I'm here, Mathew."

"Alfred," Mathew cried, clinging to him as though he were a lifeline.

"It's alright, Mathew. But look at me. Look at me!" Alfred said, grabbing Mathew's head to look at him. "I will never let anyone hurt you, ever again. Do you understand?" he said. Mathew sniffled and hiccuped, then nodded.

"Yes," he said, before another sob broke through his lips. Alfred sighed and hugged him tight.

"It's okay, Mathew. But Mattie...we gotta go." Alfred said. Mathew sniffled and looked up at him, question in his blue-violet eyes.

"Wh-why?" he hiccuped, wiping his eyes.

"Mattie...I killed him. Unless you want me to go to jail, we need to go." Alfred told him quietly. Mathew sniffled again and nodded, wiping his nose then pulled up his pants for the second time that night.

"Okay," he whispered.

The twins began to walk before Mathew stopped. "Wait!" he said, running back to their room and grabbed the stuffed polar bear he had sitting on his bed. "Okay, lets go." he whispered, grabbing Alfred's hand. They walked out the house, both turning at the same time to look at the place they would never return to. "Alfred," Mathew whispered.

"Yeah," Al said, turning to look at his brother. Mathew sniffled then placed a kiss on his brother's lips.

"Thank you. You're my hero," Alfred looked shocked for a moment before he smirked, holding tight onto his brother's hand and ran, determined to get them both away before the cops came.

"I'll always be your hero, Mattie."

* * *

><p><em>AN: This was originally intended to be a one shot but I had too many ideas not to make this longer. A few warnings: Violence, blood, a possible rating going up, yaoi, and a bit of incest. You have been warned. Reviews are always appreciated. ~Ciao! Love Stripes  
><em>


	2. Burgers, Purses, and Ninjas

"Hey Alfred, I'm hungry." Mathew whispered weakly, clinging onto his twins arm. It was late in the afternoon with the spring sun shinning high, probably around lunch time. The air was slightly chilly but not cold enough to need a jacket-thankfully for the boys who were still in their pajamas(Alfred and his too big gray shirt with the superman symbol in the middle and gray sweat pants, and Mathew with a blue, long sleeved shirt with a polar bear in the middle and blue pajama bottoms).

"I know Mattie. I'll find us something to eat soon. So don't worry," Alfred replied, though he was highly doubting himself. It had been three days since the young boys had ran away with no money, no clothes, and most importantly no food. The only things the two had of any value were the glasses on their faces, Mathew's stuffed bear, and Alfred .9 mm-one bullet gone. The brother's longed for the comforts of home-a warm bed to sleep in, a hot shower, and their (late) father's cooking. But that wasn't going to happen now, not ever, because Alfred was murderer. But the blue-eyed boy would kill time and time again if only to protect his brother.

The situation they were in right now didn't call for death though, only food. "Hmm," Alfred mumbled, looking around the busy, foreign street, two cities over from where the two used to live. Even though they knew the danger of it, the twins still managed to hitch hike a ride over. To Alfred it seemed like the longest car ride in the world. He continually waited to hear police sirens come chasing after them, helicopters in the air, someone over a mega phone telling them to pull over like they always did in the movies. If it weren't for Mathew the poor boy might have had an anxiety attack. There was just something about Alfred's younger brother that kept him calm, something soothing that kept him from screaming. And for that, he was thankful.

"Hey Mattie, I got an idea." Alfred said, eyes landing on a young woman with brown hair and green eyes, sitting down on a bus stop bench to enjoy a burger from McDonald's. Alfred smiled and pulled Mathew down an ally. "Okay, this is what you're going do." Alfred said and bent close, whispering his plan in his brother's ear.

"E-excuse me...miss?" Mathew whispered, sniffling and wiped his eyes. He was missing his shoes and his face was covered in dirt. He looked to the lady with wide eyes, clutching Mr. Kumajirou to his chest.

"Oh, you poor thing." The woman said with a strange accent. "What can I do for you?" Mathew sniffled again and shuffled his feet, lowering his head down as though embarrassed by his next reply.

"I...I'm really hungry. I-i don't wanna beg but..." he sniffled again then covered his face with his hands, sobs coming from his lips. The woman looked at the crying child sympathetically and held out her burger to him.

"It's alright, don't cry, dear. Here. Take it. I'll buy another one." She said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"R-really?" Mathew said, peeking through his fingers.

"Really," The woman said. Mathew smiled sweetly and accepted the burger, glancing downward for a moment to look at Alfred who had crawled under the bench and quickly snatched away the bag that held the rest of the food plus her purse.

"Thank you," Mathew said, before Alfred hoped up and ran, startling the woman.

"Run, Mattie! Run!" Alfred screamed, Mathew taking off after him. He couldn't believe he actually did that! He really stole something from someone-well not him per se, but he was an accomplice! After the adrenaline stopped rushing through his veins he knew that guilt would soon take over.

"We did it, Mattie!" Alfred cheered, running down the ally until they hit a dead end. He bent over his knees to catch his breath, laughter flowing from his mouth. "Wow! That...was exciting!" he smiled at his younger brother but it soon faltered as he saw that Mathew wasn't exactly enjoying this as much as him. "Hey...what's wrong?" he said, slinging the purse over his shoulder and set the bag of food down.

"I can't believe we just did that..." Mathew said quietly, staring down at his feet. He felt so ashamed of himself! This wasn't what they were taught! Stealing from innocent people was wrong and Mathew felt...like a criminal.

"Hey, cheer up." Alfred said, bringing his brother into his a hug. "Look, I know how you feel. But think of it like this." He put a finger under Mat's chin then lifted his head up. "It was either us or her. She even said she'd buy another one so she'll be okay." It was then he remembered that the woman's purse was slung around his shoulders. Well...maybe she had pocket money. "Now come on, either we split that burger or I'll eat it myself." he said. Mathew sighed and looked at the sandwich in his hand. "Don't make me have to use this!" Alfred held up a finger then poked his brother in the side. Mathew let out a giggle then covered his mouth with his hand. Alfred was a notorious tickler and knew all of Mathew's spots. He poked him again and Mathew broke out in a grin.

"Okay, okay! Stop it." He broke the burger in half and handed one piece to his brother before they both took a seat on the ground.

"This calls for a toast!" Alfred said before Mathew could take a bite. "To McDonald's!" Alfred said, holding up his half of the sandwich. Mathew smiled and followed suit.

"To McDonald's! And brothers!" Mathew said, touching his burger to his Alfred's.

"And brothers," Alfred said, taking a bite. After not eating for the past forty-eight hours this tasted better than any burger he had before.

"Isn't that cute, aru?" A voice said, someone dropping down from the fire escape. He looked to be a few years older than the boys, probably fifteen at the most with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and brown eyes. He wore a light blue shirt with extra long sleeves, black pants, and red shoes. He looked down at the young siblings and smirked, holding out his hand. "But I'll be taking that purse now, aru." Alfred was up on his feet immediately, blue eyes glaring at the Chinese boy.

"Like Hell you will." He growled, balling up his hands, ready for a fight. The older boy snorted and rolled his eyes.

"You don't want to fight, aru. You'll only lose." He said. "So just give me the purse and you can go back to eating, aru"

"Back off, Bruce Lee. It's mine." Alfred told him, taking a step closer. The money in this purse could feed him and Mattie for the next few days, no way was he giving it up to some Asian punk.

"Fine then, aru. I'll take it by force, aru." The boy rolled back his sleeves, revealing a sharp army knife in his hand. "Now give it to me and you won't get hurt, aru." Alfred frowned and narrowed his eyes but slowly lifted his hands up. "Good, now take it-" The boy was cut off as Alfred took the gun from behind him and aimed it at him.

"I said. Back. Off." Alfred snarled, cocking the gun. The older boy blanched and stepped back.

"Alfred...please don't..." Mathew said, eyes wide.

"It's okay, Mattie. I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to let this fucking chink try to take our stuff." Alfred said. "Now, Ling-Ling, drop the knife and kick it over here." The boy complied, kicking the knife towards Alfred. "Pick it up, Mattie."

"But I-"

"Pick it up," Mathew took the knife hesitantly, looking as though he wasn't too sure what to do with it.

"Alright, this has gone far enough." Dropping down from the fire escape as the older teen did came another boy, also of Asian heritage. His black hair was cut short but his bangs moved over his brown eyes when he turned his head. He wore a simple white shirt and black pants, along with white shoes. Alfred pointed the gun towards him then back to the other, unsure of who posed the most threat.

"What are you guys? Fucking ninjas?" He said.

"Hey, I take that to offense, aru. Not all Asian's are ninjas, aru." The older boy said then turned his glare on his companion. "And where the hell have you been, aru? I'm being held at gun point and you were supposed to be watching!"

"Calm yourself, Yao. I was watching." The second boy was probably around Mathew and Alfred's age though he seemed to be the most mature one out of the group.

"Then why weren't you doing anything, aru?" Yao growled.

"I'm doing something now, aren't I?" The comment left Yao with a grumpy look on his face as the second boy turned to Alfred, raising his hands up in a peaceful manner. "I am Kiku. I mean you and your brother no harm. Please excuse Yao's behavior, I would say he's not normally like that but...he is." The boy shrugged as though saying 'nothing I can do about it.' "Please lower your weapon. I promise we won't do anything," Alfred glanced from his gun to Kiku, thinking about it. He seemed truthful enough but he'd keep be keeping an eye on Kiku's friend there.

"You can't have the purse. I got it first." Alfred said, lowering the gun then took a glance to Mathew who looked as though he wanted to run away at any moment. He kind of felt bad for him. Mathew was the more gentler of the two, Alfred knew that he didn't handle situations like this well.

"Thank you. We were watching you from inside the apartment complex and saw you steal that woman's purse," Alfred opened his mouth to say he wasn't giving it back but the black haired boy raised a hand for silence. "You don't have to give it back. We were watching you handle the situation with Yao and our leader wants to talk to you."

"Leader?" Alfred cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean leader? Are you guys like a cult or something?" What he wouldn't give to just get out of there at this moment, just grab Mattie and run. These guys were starting to creep him out.

"No, I assure you not. If you will just follow me inside all will be explained," Kiku told him calmly. Alfred shook his head, grip tightening on the gun.

"No way, man. We're not going anywhere with you." He told him before gasping out as his arm was seized and pulled back, the gun dropping out of his hand. He glanced behind him to see a tall boy, probably about Yao's age with platinum blond hair-almost silver-and violet eyes. He smiled at Alfred, a child's smile but with a dark and cold undertone.

"I'm sorry, but that was not a request." Kiku said, knocking on a door on the side of the apartment in a strange pattern. The door was opened and Kiku beckoned for his two friends to follow. "Bring them in,"

* * *

><p><em>AN: So I decided to continue it. I had the part where Yao told them he'd be taking the purse in my head for a while I just couldn't start the chapter off correctly. So, do you like it so far? Could Alfred get any more racist with those comebacks? I'm kind of liking where this is going and I know exactly how I'm going to end this thing. I warn you now there will much violence, cussing, yoai, and possible death of more people. I hope like it! Rating may change in the future chapters. Please review! ~Ciao! Love Stripes._


	3. Toro

"Get your fucking hands off of me!" Alfred growled, struggling in the older boys arms. Both hands were behind his back and his head was being pressed down.

"You will calm down, da?" The silver haired boy said, half dragging Alfred into the building.

"Fucking commie! Get off me!" Alfred said, glancing behind him to see Yao pick the gun up and smirk at Mathew.

"Move it, blondie." Yao said to Mathew, aiming the fallen gun at him. Mathew quickly got up, eyes wide as he followed after Kiku. "You can keep the knife, aru. I'll like this better, aru." Yao said, smiling and went in.

"Don't you aim that at my brother, you Asian bastard!" Alfred shouted, before his legs were kicked out from under him.

"Please be calming down now or I will use gag." The tall boy told Alfred, the group going into an elevator. Alfred growled low in his throat but shut up, sending hateful glares towards Yao.

"He sounds like Lovino, aru. Possibly even worse." Yao said, keeping a hand on Mathews shoulder.

"I don't think anyone could have a worse mouth than Lovino," Kiku said, pressing a button for the top floor.

The elevator was quiet except for the creaks and groans coming from the old machine. Mathew's heart was beating wildly and he could feel the sweat running down his neck. _'What's going to happen?_' Was the thought that kept running through his mind repeatedly. In all his thirteen years of living he had never dreamed something like this could happen to him and Alfred. Running away from home, stealing from innocent people, getting threatened with a gun and taken into some building to meet who knows? It was enough to almost send Mathew into a panic attack-something that hadn't occurred since he was younger. He just had to keep calm and he'd be fine. Besides, Alfred would get them out of here. Alfred always got them out of the hardest situation. Alfred was a hero and that's what hero's did. He just hoped his older brother could get them out of here quickly before things got more out of hand than they were already.

The elevator dinged loudly, Mathew jumping at the sudden sound. He was pushed roughly as the group began to walk again and nearly stumbled, on the verge of falling if Yao hadn't grabbed him. "Clutz," Yao mumbled, pushing him forward again. It was clear the apartment was old and not very well taken of but still in use. The hallway was littered with cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and a few used condoms. With out his shoes Mat stepped lightly, trying not to even skim anything least his feet touch something on the unsanitary floor-besides the floor itself. The group stopped an unmarked door and Kiku knocked, no pattern this time. The door opened a cracked and a red eyed peeked through, examining the group. "Password?" The person behind the door said.

"Awesome is as awesome does." Kiku responded.

"Password accepted." The door closed momentarily as a chain was pulled back before it opened wide revealing a white haired boy with red eyes. He looked about fourteen and wore a black shirt with a yellow bird off in the corner, jeans, and black shoes. He smiled widely at the newcomers and stepped back. "What do we have here? Two little lost birds?" he taunted, shutting the door and latched it back.

"Something like that, aru." Yao replied, sticking the gun in the back of his pants. "Where Toro, aru?"

"In his room. Probably thinking about taking over the world or something. If anyone's going to take over the world it's going to be me because I'm just so-" The albino was cut off by Yao.

"Awesome, we know, aru. You remind us everyday, aru." The Chinese boy glanced to the Russian who still had a hold on Alfred. "You can let him go now, Ivan, aru. He won't run, aru." Ivan nodded and let Alfred go. Alfred glared at him then grabbed Mathew's arm and pulled him close.

"Stay next to me," Alfred told him quietly and his twin nodded.

The two were guided toward a room where someone was just coming out. The boy had dark brown hair with a curl sticking right out and brown hair. He wore nothing but a pair of jeans and a scowl on his face. He was probably about fourteen. Yao opened his mouth to say something but was quickly cut off. "Shut up, you damn Chinese bastard." The brown haired boy said in an Italian accent, apparently not in a good mood.

"I didn't say anything, aru." Yao retorted.

"You were going to and I don't want to hear it." The Italian said, shoving past them.

"What's his problem?" Alfred said, pushing his glasses up his face.

"That's Lovino. He's always like that." Ivan replied before Lovino began shouting from the kitchen.

"You damn German blond bastard! You ate my pasta!" He howled before something was thrown at the wall.

"Why do you always blame it on me? It could have been Gilbert." A voice from the kitchen replied, supposedly the 'German blond bastard'.

"Don't put this on me. I didn't eat it." Gilbert said haughtily, going into the kitchen. Kiku sighed and shook his head.

"Never a dull day, aru." Yao commented knocking on the door.

"Come in," Someone from behind the door called. Kiku opened the door and ushered their group inside. The room held a king sized bed with a black sheet set-bed made-, a dresser, and a man looking out the window. From behind all the twins saw was dark brown hair and tanned skin. He wore a red shirt with white, cursive letters that said 'El Toro' with a pair of glaring red eyes underneath, blue jeans, and white socks.

"We brought them like you ask," Kiku said, hands calmly behind his back.

"Thank you," The boy at the window said with a Hispanic accent. "Would you tell Lovi he left his his shirt in here?" There a smile in his voice, as though he was amused at the Italian's forgetfulness. He then turned around and looked at the twins with green eyes. He was probably the oldest one here, about sixteen or seventeen. "_Hola_, boys." he said, smiling at the two. Alfred growled and narrowed his eyes.

"Who the fuck do you think you are sending your fucking ninja's and commies after people?" Alfred snarled at him.

"Not ninjas, aru." Yao mumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry if they handled you a bit roughly. Ivan and Yao can get a bit out of hand. Kiku...well I wouldn't say he wouldn't hurt a fly but it's best you not provoke him." The Hispanic laughed as though it were a joke then looked to his henchmen. "You guys can go now. Don't send Lovi in until after I'm done with these two," he said. The teenagers nodded and left out the room, shutting the door behind them.

The boy examined the two blonds in his rooms, a shaking, violet eyed boy with a bear and a blue eyed boy with an apparent bad attitude. He stared at Mathew for a long moment, practically waiting for him to burst into tears or start pleading for his life-that was just the type of person he looked like-but his view was blocked when Alfred stepped in front of him and gave him a glare, daring him to do something. The Hispanic boy laughed once, amused at his spunk. "You probably have lots of questions, sí?" he said, taking a seat on the bed.

"You bet I do. Like who the Hell are you and why the fuck are we here?" Alfred growled at him.

"Very valid questions. I'm Antonio, also known as Toro. I watched you from my window here and I like your skill. You tricked that woman out of a meal and nearly shot Yao's head off. You got serious _cojones_, kid." He dragged a hand through his hair and picked up a white shirt, most likely Lovino's. "I can tell just by looking at you that you have no where to go." He paused, waiting for an objection that would never come. "Just as I thought. From the looks of you, you've only been on the street for a few days, a week at the most."

"Three days," Alfred muttered.

Antonio nodded sympathetically. "You're tired, hungry, and need a safe place to sleep. I don't know why you ran away and I'm not going to bother to ask. I will tell you though, I can offer you food, shelter, clothes, and a hot shower." Alfred looked at him suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

"We don't know you. For all we know you could try to kill us or or...eat us...or...I don't know but I don't trust you." Al said.

"And you have all right not to. But, neither did this rag-tag group I call a family. Before I found them they were just like you. Starving kids with out a friend in the world and with out a place to call home. I took pity on them and brought them here. I fed them, gave them a place to sleep, and gave them a choice. They could stay with me or leave back onto the streets. And that's exactly the choice I'm giving you." Toni folded his hands in his lap, giving them bot a level look. From the look in Alfred's eyes he already knew the answer before it was spoken.

"We don't need your damn pity! We can take care of ourselves!" The little blond boy replied with a glare before he felt Mat grab his hand. He looked behind him and into the violet eyes of his brother. He looked tired, hungry, and most of all scared. "Mat..." Alfred whispered quietly. Was he going to say that they should stay here with Antonio's gang? As much as Alfred's pride wouldn't allow it he couldn't say no to Mattie and if that's what his little brother wanted he'd coincide.

"I trust you, Alfred." Matt told him in his quiet voice, looking up at him through his lashes. Alfred smiled at him and squeezed his hand. It felt good to know that no matter what he did Mathew trusted him. He would probably follow Al through the tunnels of Hell if he had to. He'd stick with his brother through and through.

"I'm sorry to hear you say that...Alfred, was it?" Toni said, ruining their moment. He hopped up and opened the door for them, giving them a smile. "But please, think over my offer. I'll always be here if you change your mind."

"Which we won't," Alfred said.

"Right. Well, you know where the door is. It was nice meeting you Alfred. Mat." He nodded his head to the quiet brother who ducked his head down. "Do come back," Alfred gave him a skeptical look and ushered his brother back to the door and out the apartment with out a second glance.

"Fucking...God I...Ah!" Alfred muttered to himself taking the stairs down instead of the elevator, still holding onto his brothers hand. "I can't believe him! Offering us a place as though we'd take it! I ought to...to...I don't even know! And they took my gun! I bought that with my own money and they took it!"

"Alfred, please calm down." Mat whispered, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's not that bad. Really." He told him. The two walked back into the ally and Alfred glanced to his little brother.

"Do you really trust me, Mattie?" Al muttered.

"With all my heart," Mathew said, kissing him. Alfred smiled, pulling Mat closer, unaware that they were being watched at the moment.

"Kiku," Toni said, watching out his window, all smiles gone.

"Hai?" Kiku said, standing in the doorway of his leaders room.

"Keep an eye on these two for me." The Hispanic said, eying the twins curiously. An interesting turn of events this was. "Especially Mattie,"

"Yes sir," Kiku said, bowing once then left out the room. Antonio continued watching the two before they pulled apart, hand in hand, walking back out the ally. They'd come back. They always did. And when they did, he'd be ready.

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><p><em>AN: I know what you're thinking. 'Antonio/Spain boss what now...?' Let me elaborate on why I choose him. First and foremost: Ivan was much too obvious. I mean, think about it. Yeah he's tall, yeah he can be scary, but you would never expect him to be a subordinate to someone like Toni-NEVER! Second: History. Spain was a conquistador. He traveled to South America and nearly wiped out a whole race of people-yes I know, disease contributed to most of that but you know where I'm a coming from. Spain was an effing bad ass in his younger day! And I also like bringing out the darker side of people(if any one has ever read my Total Drama fics you know where I'm coming from.) But anyways! I am seriously enjoying writing this! Also...the door is automated and that's why it opened but no one was there, I swear! Review please! ~Ciao! Love Stripes_


	4. A change of apperance: Who am I?

The purse held one-hundred and fifty dollars-enough to buy the twins both some new clothes from the Good Will and enough left over to buy food for the next week. "So, what do we do now?" Mathew asked in a new white shirt and some worn pants-he had managed to pick his shoes up from the ally.

"Now we find a place to stay," Alfred said, keeping his Superman shirt but opted for a pair of jeans with a hole in the left knee and black sneakers. The problem with finding a place to stay was he had no idea where that place was. He wasn't going back to Antonio's-like he said, he could take care of his. He'd been taking care of Mattie since they were left in the orphanage when they were four. He kept Mat safe, kept the bullies away, and looked out for him and in return Mathew kept him down to earth. Once again it was time to take care of his violet-eyed brother.

"You again!" Alfred gasped as he spotted the brown haired woman with the strange accent.

"Run!" He said, grabbing his brother's arm.

"Get back here you thieves!" The woman shouted, giving chase.

_'Damn_,' Alfred though, running across the street, managing to nearly get him and Mathew hit twice.

"A-alfred!" Mathew panted. "I...I don't know how much longer...I can go."

"Just keep running, Mattie. Just a little longer." Alfred was always better at athletics than his younger brother, he wasn't sure how much longer Mathew could run. '_Shit think_,' His breath came hard and his heart hammered in his chest. Glancing behind he could see the woman quickly on their tail. _'Was she on fucking track?'_ The boys turned a corner, pushing past people coming out of shops. "That's it! Come on, Mattie! In the store!" Alfred thew open the door to the beauty supplies store and ran to the back straight into the bathroom. He locked the door before finally letting his brother go.

"Fuck," He breathed, hand on his chest.

"What...what do we do now?" Mathew asked, sitting down and leaned against the wall. "She's g-going to find us."

"Shh," Alfred put his ear to the door, closing his eyes.

"Excuse me, did you see two little blond boys run in here?" That was the brown haired woman. The woman who worked the counter said something in another language to her co-worker then spoke to the woman.

"No no...we...we no see." She replied before offering to sell her something.

"Fucking kids," The woman growled and Alfred heard the door open then close.

Alfred breathed a sigh of relief then sank down onto the floor. "We're safe," he muttered, giving a smile to his brother. "But we're too noticeable. We have to do something about our hair." Mathew nodded, curling a strand of his golden locks around his finger.

"Come on. I got an idea." Alfred stood up and unlocked the door, taking a peek out. "Keep 'em busy," The boys walked out the bathroom and Mathew made his way to the counter, beginning to speak to the woman in French who in return began speaking in what Alfred figured was Chinese-thank God Mat actually decided to listen to Francis and his boring French lessons.

While the younger twin kept the owner busy Alfred casually went through the isles, stuffing dye, a pair of scissors, and two hats into the purse still on his shoulders. Making sure his goods were secured he motioned for Mat to follow him out. "Thank you for the interesting conversation, ma'am." Mathew said, quickly following Alfred.

"Here, put this on. Tuck your hair in and keep your head down." Al instructed, handing his brother a blue, floppy hat doing the same with a red baseball cap.

"So what did you get?" Mat asked as the two walked through the street, both keeping an eye open for the foreign woman.

"Mattie...how do you feel about dying your hair?"

"Um...I-i don't know. Do we have to?"

"We're too recognizable with our hair so, yeah, we do." Alfred could clearly see the prospect of dying his hair didn't appeal to Mathew but he nodded none the less.

"Okay. Let's do it. We could use a change of color anyway." Alfred smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward a few people who were going into the subway. He ignored the looks he received and muttered something along the lines of 'Never seen a boy with a purse before?' Keeping the bag close to him he pulled his brother into the nearest bathroom and waited for it to clear out before locking it.

"Alright...let's get to work."

The boys spent the next hour or so dying their hair-Alfred occasionally shouting that it was closed for maintenance when someone knocked. "So...what do you think?" He asked as the twins took a look at themselves in the mirror. The dye had turned their hair from blond to a light brown, a few spots of gold managing to peak out making it look as though they had blond highlights.

"Not bad," Matt muttered, shaking his hair as if testing it out. "I kind of like it,"

"Me too," Alfred agreed then took out the scissors. "But we're not done yet," Mathew gasped and grasped his hair. Neither of them have ever had a proper hair cut before and the idea made Mat a little anxious. "Close your eyes," Al instructed. Mathew complied, hugging his bear tightly to his chest. It wasn't that he was afraid of having his hair cut, he was afraid of Alfred cutting his hair. Alfred was a master when it came to spray paint-they had to do it for a school project once-but other than that Al had no artistic ability. When they made paper snow flakes for the winter Alfred's always ended up looking like a dog had chewed through it before he got Mathew to do it for him. Mat knew that scissors and Alfred did not mix. "Stop shaking before I cut your ear off," Alfred chided, steadying him.

"Sorry," Mathew whispered, beginning to sing in his head. Singing always calmed him down. Snip! He bit back a whine as he heard the first snip against his hair. Quickly the older twin got to work, taking the hair off inch by inch.

"Keep your eyes closed," Al told him, rifling through the purse before mat felt something on his face. By the time Mathew go to the third round of 'twinkle, twinkle, little star' Alfred told him he could open his eyes. Hesitantly, the younger child opened them, taking in his new appearance. At least five inches had been cut off, the hair coming to the middle of his ears while his bangs had completely vanished. Doting his cheeks were freckles, the color of coffee. "Who am I?" He whispered, not even feeling like himself. He looked like a complete stranger.

"If you can't tell then I did an awesome job." Alfred said, grinning widely. "Now it's my turn," He handed the scissors and purse over, taking a deep breath. Mat smiled gently and stood in front of his brother.

"Look at me," Mathew instructed and Al complied. "Just at me," Quickly, Mather began to clip the hair away, every now and again giving his brother an encouraging smile. After he set the scissors down he looked through the purse before pulling out a stick of eyeliner. He gently applied it to Alfred's head before finishing. "Okay you can look." Mathew said, turning his twin around. His hair was shorter than Mathew's, nearly gone in the back and cropped in the front. He had a small hand drawn scar on his forehead that, from a distance or through the corner of an eye, looked real. Alfred whistled through his teeth then smile, wrapping an arm around Mathew's shoulders.

"We look awesome. I can't even tell it's us." He said, then scowled as someone once again knocked on the door. "Come on, lets get out of here."

The boys left the subway satisfied that no one would recognize them now. That solved only one of their problems though. There was still the matter of finding a place to sleep. The first night neither of them could sleep, terrified at the prospect of waking up surrounded by police officers. The second night was spent in a car when they were hitch hiking. Tonight both of them needed a good rest after today's excitement. But their options were limited. They definitely weren't going to a homeless shelter-the thought of staying in a place surrounded by unknown people had Alfred's skin crawling-a bench was out of the question, and he didn't even want to think of Antonio's. '_Think Alfred, think. What's a place that's safe, where you and Mattie can sleep?_' He thought, tapping his finger on his chin.

"Hey Alfred," Mat said quietly.

"Not now, Mattie. I'm thinking." Alfred said.

"Alfred," Mat said a little more loudly.

"I'm trying to think of a place for us to stay," Alfred told him.

"Alfred Ferris Jones would you listen to me and look?" Mathew said, putting his hands on both sides of Alfred's head and turned it to the side.

"Oh," Alfred said, eying the large church in front of him. It was clear the building was old, the white paint beginning to peel and the windows were blocked off with wood and marked with orange 'X's'. At the top of the cathedral was a large, wooden cross a birds nest situated right in the crook of the intersecting wood. "Perfect. Let's go check it out," Alfred grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him up the steps to the door. "Damn, it's locked." he said after pulling on the handle."Hey, Mattie, you still got that knife on you?" The violet-eyed brother nodded and dug the weapon out of his pocket, handing it to him. Alfred flicked open the knife and shoved it between the locked doors, wiggling it around before finally getting it open. He gently opened the door and walked in, taking a quick look around. "How old is this place?" he asked, his voice echoing off the walls. The floors and walls were covered in dust, along with the pews which were rooted to the floor, hence why they hadn't been removed when the church closed. As the twins walked down the isle, Alfred noticed a few month bitten bibles laying around, some open to a certain page as though the ghost that might haunt this place were spending their time reading about the word of God.

"This place gives me the creeps," Mathew whispered, clinging to his brother's arm with his right hand and held his bear tight with the other.

"It's just a church, nothing to be afraid of unless God decided he wanted smite us." Which, given the circumstances of Alfred being a murderer and the twins behaving in a very ungodly way toward each other it was a surprise their weren't struck by lightening as soon as they walked in.

"I still don't like it here," Mattie said, then jumped as a bat flew over head, screeching. He began to shake, clinging even tighter to Alfred before he gasped. Staring right at him from the back of the church hung a man on a cross, blood dribbling from the nails that pinned his hands and feet down, a crown of thorns placed on his head. His eyes almost seemed to scream 'help' at the boy. Mathew then screamed as loudly as he could, a noise that would do a teenage girl proud. Alfred swiftly covered his mouth, shutting out the sound.

"Shh, shh. Mattie, what is it?" Alfred said, holding his brother tight and stroked his hair.

"L-l-l-look..." Mathew stuttered, pointing to the man on the cross. Alfred followed the finger and moved forward slowly, cautiously before letting out a breath.

"It's just a statue, Mattie." He informed him. "It's of the crucifixion. You remember hearing about that when we went to church." Albeit they hadn't been to church in years, Mathew had to remember at least hearing about it once or twice.

"O-oh," Mathew said, his heart still pounding in his chest. He felt a bit stupid now for screaming, how could he forget? But what church would have _that_ hanging around? "It's scary..." he muttered.

"Just ignore it," Alfred told him, coming over to one of the pews. "Sit here while I look around for a moment and see if they have blankets or something around here." He instructed him. Mathew didn't want to let go but obliged and sat down, hugging Kumajirou tight to his chest. "I'll be right back." Mat nodded, watching his older brother walk off. _'He'll be right back. He'll be right back. He'll be right back.'_ He thought over and over again, trying to look at anything other than the grotesque figure pinned to the wall.

Alfred on the other hand had found the pastors office, not locked like the outside doors had been. He searched around the room, pushing past papers and notes for a Sunday school that wouldn't be held. "Come on, now. There has to be something around him," Alfred muttered, opening up a cabinet. "Bingo," He smiled and pulled out a few votive candles and a box of matches, along with a large wooly blanket. "This will have to do for now," He nodded and shut the cabinet back, walking out of the office and back to his brother who looked as though he were well on his way to freak out land. "Dude, you okay?" he asked, setting the candles and matches down.

"I-i think the statue moved," Mathew whispered with wide eyes. Alfred sighed and sat next to his brother, wrapping the blanket around the two of them.

"Ignore the stupid statue, man. It's not alive and even if it used to be the man has been dead for only God knows how long." Al told him quietly, holding him against his chest. "What you need is a good nights rest. So close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll be right here if you wake up."

"O-okay..." Mathew whispered then yawned. It couldn't be any later than seven 'o clock in the evening, the sun hadn't even set fully yet but with the past few days weighing down on him Mat felt as though he could sleep for a full day. He snuggled into his brothers chest and closed his eyes, wrapping an arm around him. "Good night, Alfred. I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too, Mattie." Alfred whispered back, removing both of their glasses before closing his eyes. He felt almost proud of himself. He didn't need Francis, or Antonio, or anyone else for that matter. Alfred could take care of himself and his brother all on his own and that's what he intended to do from here on out. As long as Mathew was by his side, Alfred knew everything would be okay.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And it is up! This took me so much longer than it should have, I'm telling you! I don't really like the chapter that much...well it's not so much the chapter as it is the way I wrote it. I feel like I could have done better. But yeah, not much happening besides a change of appearance and sleeping in a church. And please, don't be offended by the shop keepers. They're based off a personal experience-every beauty supply store I've ever been to in my life(I kid you not) is ran by an Asian person. I've always wondered why, maybe it's where I live or I'm just not going into the right stores. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. The next one will be better I promise! As always, reviews are always appreciated and awesome(probably just about as awesome as Gilbert). ~Ciao! Love Stripes._


	5. Cats, Mask, and Toro to the rescue!

"Hey what's that?"

"Where?"

"Right there!

"I don't see anything."

"Open your eyes and maybe you will, moron."

"Oh,"

Mat snuggled deeper into Alfred's chest, trying to make the voices of his dreams go away.

"I think one of them is awake!"

"Go check." A moment of silence and Mathew sighed, a blissful smile on his lips as he began to doze off again before a voice whispered in his ear.

"Wake up, sleepy head." He gasped and sat up quickly, banging heads with an unknown stranger. "Fuck! Kid! You got a hard head!" The stranger grabbed his head and glared at the former blond. Mathew grabbed his glasses and put them back on, eyes adjusting to the dark to see there were three people surrounding him and his brother. The one that he had accidentally head butted was probably about his age with black hair-a curl sticking off to the side-and brown eyes. He wore a blue shirt with the white words 'Made in Korea' on the front and jeans. Behind him stood two other boys, both older. One looked about fifteen and had olive green eyes and wore a white shirt with a brown jacket and jeans. He had brown hair with a white beret on and...was that a cat on his head? It was. There was a sleeping white and brown cat curled up on his head as though it were the best bed in the world. Mathew would have figured he was still asleep if his head wasn't hurting so badly. Next to the cat boy stood the the tallest and probably oldest of the group-Mat couldn't really tell because of the white mask covering his face and a green hoodie which obscured most of his facial features besides the brown eyes peeking out at him from behind the mask and the little bit of brown stubble on his chin. All three of the boys looked at Mathew and Alfred curiously. Mathew only gaped.

"Well good morning to you too," The masked boy said, smiling at Mathew's confused/sleepy expression. It was then Mathew snapped out of his daze and started shaking his brother, making sure to keep his eye on the strangers.

"Alfred," He said as the three strangers watched amused. "Alfred wake up,"

"Mm...wha?" Alfred mumbled groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Is it morning already?" He yawned and grabbed his glasses, placing them on his face and blinked a few times before jumping as he caught sight of the three boys. "Who the hell are you?"

"We could ask you the same thing. You are in _our_ house." The masked boy said. Alfred looked up and around almost confusedly then back to the strangers.

"This is a church not a house." He told them, moving the blanket from himself then stuck his hands in his pockets casually

"It's _our_ church. We found it first." The leader of the small group was getting agitated and Mathew shrank back against the pew.

"And I'm saying a church is a public place meaning we have a right to be here." Alfred argued back, eyebrows furrowing.

"And I'm saying get up and get out before we make you get out." The masked boy bared his teeth like an animal, taking a step forward towards the younger boys.

"Alfred, let's just leave." Mat whispered, hugging his bear to his chest.

"And go where, Mattie?" Alfred whispered back then turned to look at the boys again. "We're not going anywhere and you can't make us." He really didn't see what the big deal was. This church was big enough for all five of them-plus the cat on the boys head!

"I think we can," The oldest boy then grabbed Alfred by the shirt and hauled him up, face inches from his.

"I think not!" Alfred then pulled his hand out of his pocket and flicked open the knife, diving it into the boy's hoodie and pulled up, ripping the garment.

"Why you little-" Before he had a chance to finish Alfred balled up his hand and punched the boy in the face, the masked boy dropping him. "Shit!" With quicker reflexes than Alfred thought he had the older boy returned the punch, hitting him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him then shouted to the other two. "Don't just stand there like idiots! Get the other one!" The two younger boys looked around, Mathew seeming to have disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" The Asian boy said, looking around the dark church with wide eyes.

"He disappeared," The cat boy mumbled, walking down the pews.

"Sadik, the boy's gone." The Asian said to their leader.

"Well find him!" Sadik said, narrowly dodging one of Alfred's fist.

Mathew tried his hardest to breath quietly, quickly crawling under the pews, Kumajirou tucked into his shirt. He stopped and bit his lip as he saw a pair of shoes come into view. _'Please don't look under,_' he thought, listening to Sadik and Alfred have it out. The feet didn't move and Mathew looked over just in time to see Alfred hit the floor then roll before Sadik could step on him. Blue eyes met purple and Al quickly mouthed 'run away' before hoping back up, calling out loudly "I could take all three of you!" Just like Alfred, using himself as a distraction for the sake of his younger twin.

"Yong soo come over here and help me with this kid. He's stronger than he looks," Sadik called. The feet finally moved and Mathew held back a sigh of relief, continuing his crawling. He could see the door and hopped Alfred would be okay-He let out a surprised squeak as his leg was grabbed and he was pulled back then held upside down by the cat boy.

"I found him," He mumbled, eye lids half closed as though he could go to sleep at any moment. Mathew began to shake and he covered his mouth, sounds slipping between his lips. The cat boy cocked his head to the side, wondering if Mathew was crying before the violet-eyed boy burst out into giggles. "Wha...?"

"You...you have...a cat on your...head!" Mathew spoke between giggles and he felt the boy's hand begin to loosen from his leg. With out a moments hesitation Mathew twined his fingers together like he was praying then brought them down as hard as he could on the boy's crotch, all laughing gone. "Ah!" The green-eyed boy dropped Mathew and feel to his knees, now clutching his throbbing privates.

"Run Mattie!" Alfred called as Mathew stood up. He glanced to his brother to see Sadik held his arms behind his back and Yong Soo had some how acquired the knife.

"But-" Mathew stepped back as the cat-boy glared at him, slowly beginning to rise if a bit awkwardly.

"I can handle them! Just run!" Alfred called then groaned as the Asian punched him in the gut. Mathew looked back and forth from his brother to the oncoming threat before finally making his decision and ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

_'Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!'_ He continually thunk while running down the dark street, heart beating wildly. He wasn't sure if he was being chased but he was too afraid to look back. A part of him almost wanted the weird cat-boy to chase after him. Alfred could possibly handle two of them but not all three...'_Damn it, I have to do something_.' He thought, looking around. The streets were empty, not a soul to be seen, no cars coming down the road. The only thing to be heard were crickets and Mathew's heavy footsteps on the pavement. He quickly took a peek behind him and was relived to find he was alone.

Finally, he slowed down and leaned against a street lamp, breathing hard. "What am I gonna do?" he muttered, looking down to the bear in his arms. "Don't look at me like that, I know I shouldn't have left him!" He bit his lip gently. "But...I couldn't do anything. Alfred's the fighter not me." He slowly began to walk, mind turning over. Even if Alfred was better at fighting he should have least attempted to help instead of running away. Now his brother was probably getting his face stomped in because Mat was a coward. "What am I gonna do?" he repeated, looking around. Though dark, the spot he was in vaguely looked familiar. It was then he remembered this was where Alfred and he had stolen the woman's purse and food. It was then he knew what he should do.

Taking off at a run, Mathew ran down the ally him and Alfred had hid in and banged on the door, hopping someone would answer it. "Please...please open up..." he muttered, jiggling the handle. "Oh God, please..." Just then the door opened and Mathew didn't wait a second more before shoving past the person shouting out a sorry and ran up the stairs. Reaching the landing, he looked at the doors, trying to remember which one Antonio and his gang had stayed in. "Damn it, what was the number?" he said, walking to the end of the hallway, near an unmarked door. "Wait..." That's right, there was no number on their door! He started to knock frantically, calling out "Please open up!" The door then opened and he was staring at a very irritated albino.

"Fuck! Kid, do you know what-" He stopped for a moment and narrowed his eyes, opening the door a little more to look at Mathew. "Hey, you're one of those blond kids from earlier...only you're not so blond this time." he stated.

"Please, you have to help me." Mathew said quickly, the sense of urgency in his voice making Gilbert cock his head to the side.

"With what?"

"My brother...he's in trouble...please! I need your help!" Mathew told him.

"Who's at the door, Gilbert?" A new voice entered the conversation and Mathew caught sight of a shirtless Antonio rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"One of the kids from earlier. He says his brother's in trouble." Gilbert replied.

"Oh?" Antonio quickly wiped the sleepy expression off of his face and replaced it with an attentive one. "Mathew right? What's the problem?"

"Alfred's in trouble!" Mathew exclaimed with wide eyes. "We fell asleep in a church and-"

"A church?" Toni's eyebrows shot up and he looked out the door, narrowing his eyes suspiciously into the darkness. "Say no more. Gilbert wake everyone up." Antonio instructed then grabbed Mathew by the wrist and pulled him inside, closing the door.

"You know who lives in that church?" Mathew asked as the white haired boy went off, flicking on lights as he did.

"Yeah, I know who." The Spaniard replied, leading Mathew into his room to put on a shirt.

"Damn it!" Mathew jumped as he heard Lovino's voice, cursing as he came close to Toni's door. "What is the fucking meaning of waking me the fuck up in the middle of the fucking night?" He entered the room and glared at Mathew, knowing he was most likely the one to ruin his beauty sleep.

"It's Sadik. Mathew and his brother fell asleep on the wrong side of town and now...Alfred right? Yeah, he's in trouble." Toro explained, putting his shoes on.

"Damn it!" Lovino cursed once more. "Why do we have to help him? He didn't want our help before, I don't see why we should help him now."

"Because I said so." Toni said icily, sending a glare to Lovino that even scared Mathew. "Now get ready or you can stay here."

"Damn bastard," The Italian growled, leaving out the room. Mathew swallowed and looked to Antonio who motioned for him to follow once more.

"I-is Sadik going to hurt, Alfred?" He asked, voice quivering as he held his bear tight to his chest.

"Not if we don't get there in time," The green-eyed boy replied, looking to his gang standing in the middle of the apartment looking as though they'd rather be asleep than up at such an ungodly hour of the night. "Let's go!" He said, the group of boys moving out.

They traveled the same way Mathew had came, coming upon the church quickly. They burst through the doors to find Yong Soo sitting on Alfred and the cat-boy holding his arms down while Sadik had a knife pressed right on Alfred's bleeding face. "Shit!" Sadik hopped up quickly while the other two stayed put, though both looked wary of the larger group. "Antonio, whadda you doin' here? You know this is our territory."

"You have something to belongs to us and we just came to retrieve it." Antonio said, his gang beginning to fan out around him. Sadik's eyes looked around, clearly unsettled at the thought of being outnumbered. He glanced down to Alfred then back to the Spaniard.

"He's not part of your gang so I don't see why you care." He said, standing his ground, knuckles practically turning white as he gripped the knife in his hand tightly.

"Tell your boys to let him up or I'll do it myself." Toro growled, taking a step forward, the masked boy taking a step back. Antonio smirked at the movement then glanced to Mathew, his smirk turning into a full blown grin. "Hey Mathew...why don't you go get your brother?"

"W-what...?" Mathew stuttered.

"You want to help right?" The Hispanic boy's tone was soft, like talking to a child. "I guarantee they won't touch you." He then looked to Sadik. "Right, Sadik?" The older boy looked unsure of himself then scowled.

"Send him over and I'll cut him, too!" He growled. Antonio just laughed and placed a hand on Mathew's head.

"Go on," He said, giving him a little shove.

"Stay right there, Mattie! Don't move!" Finally Alfred quipped in, trying to keep his voice steady but he couldn't stop it from shaking slightly. Mathew looked to his brother then to Sadik then to Antonio who nodded at him.

"Go,"

Mathew swallowed and set Kumajirou down gently before slowly walking forward, feeling all eyes on him. _'Oh God,' _he thought, heart hammering in his chest. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears and he almost stopped when Alfred told him to stop walking but he continued on.

"Lay a hand on him, Sadik, and your ass is mine!" Antonio called out cheerily as the boy got closer to his brother. Glancing his way, Sadik opened his mouth then shut it, allowing him to pass by and stand by Alfred.

"Um..." Mathew looked to the two boys holding his brother down then to Alfred who had a bleeding cut running from his temple to the bottom of his left eye. He started to tremble and bit his lip, not knowing what to do next. "E-e-excuse me..." He said quietly, bending down to grab his brother's wrist. The two boys didn't protest and got up, equally afraid as their leader of the larger gang. Alfred stood up and placed an arm around Mathew's shoulders, leaning into him.

"Don't you ever do that again..." He growled in his ear, walking back to Antonio's group, limping lightly. As they made it back Antonio broke out in a laugh, startling more than half the people there after the tense atmosphere that Mathew had created.

"See, Sadik? I knew you wouldn't do anything. You're too scared after the last time I kicked your ass." He gloated, hands on his hips.

"Fuck you, Antonio!" Sadik growled, backing up slowly. "I...I already did enough damage to him so I gave him mercy." He stuttered out. Antonio rolled his eyes then jumped forward, the Turk jumping back. Toro laughed again and stuck his hands behind his head.

"What ever you say, Sadik. But you know what? I'm going to be nice tonight, show you a little mercy. You can keep your church but if you lay a hand on these boys again I'm burning this place to the ground...with you in it." The threat was said lightly but anyone could hear the warning undertone underneath it. Antonio meant what he said.

"What ever!" Sadik spat. Among freighted, he also felt terribly embarrassed about being threatened in his own home and showing mercy where normally didn't in front of the two people he controlled with force and fear unlike Antonio. "Just...just go already!"

"My pleasure. This place stinks like _mierda_, anyways. Let's go," Antonio ushered his group out the church and picked up Mathew's bear then looked back to give Sadik one more smirk before closing the doors after him.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Woo hoo! Chapter five is up! This had a lot of dialog! I may re-do it. I feel like it had too much dialog and not enough description. For some reason I like the beginning better than the end but oh well. -shrug- So! Toni's gang is back and to the rescue! And we also have a new gang, lead by Sadik who is apparently chicken crap when it comes to Toro. You wanna know something funny? I didn't even think about putting in another gang until just yesterday, so this whole chapter was written in the span of two days(probably why it's so crappy.) So, what do you think's going to happen? Is Alfred's pride going to get in the way or are they actually staying this time? Who knows? Wait, I do! :D So, keep your comments coming and I would love some critques to see what you guys think I could improve on. Sending my love! ~Ciao! Love Stripes!_


	6. Brothers

Sadik growled lowly, brown eyes watching as the last of Toni's gang left, a scowl pulling his lips down. "Damn it!" He shouted, voice echoing around the church, his two friends jumping at the sudden noise. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" The Turk glared at the door to the church, as though daring someone to walk through it. And he partially did. He wished Antonio would come back in for one last gloat so Sadik could wipe that smug look off his face!

"Hey, Sadik. Calm down," Yong Soo muttered, placing a hand on his leaders shoulder gently. Sadik let a guttural growl slip past his lips before rounding on the boy and backhanded him across the face, hard enough for his head to snap to the side. The Asian stumbled back, grabbing his face that was sure to bruise soon.

"Shut up, Yong Soo! You're the reason why those two got away!" Sadik screamed then glared at the boy with the cat on his head who had taken to sitting in one of the pews. "And you, too, Heracles!" The green-eyed boy didn't seem phased by his leader's shouting and only reached up to pick the cat off of his head and set it down, then look at his hat to examine the holes made by the frightened feline.

"I'm pretty sure it was all our faults, Sadik." He said calmly, scratching his head then placed the hat back on.

"No, it was your fault why Toni and his gang showed up!" Heracles turned a green eyed glare towards the Turk, his normally calm face resembling something that might have been displeasure or anger.

"If your so tough why didn't you stop the boy from getting his brother?" The words were spoken calm and evenly yet his eyes told Sadik that he didn't need to hear the words, he already knew the truth: Sadik was afraid of Antonio-not his gang, but Toni himself.

Sadik sneered at the boy and took the mask off then promptly threw it at Heracles who neatly dodged it. The hood fell off of Sadik's head as the mask was removed, revealing scars and old burns that littered the top half of his face, making it seem as though he eternally wore a disfigured, skin colored mask. "I'll tell you the same thing I told him. I gave the boy mercy, that's all." A ghost of a smirk appeared on Heracles' lips before it disappeared, expression blank and calm.

"You don't show mercy, Sadik. I know that better than anyone." He told him. He knew he shouldn't have been provoking Sadik's anger but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Even if the two were brothers(if only by marriage) Heracles' grandmother had openly expressed her displeasure for Turk's which apparently didn't run in her 'wild and crazy'(as his grandmother put it) daughter's veins.

He then looked to Sadik, examining the anger that was sure to explode the seconds his next words left his mouth. "Why don't you just admit you're afraid of him?" The Turkish boy stared at his brother for a long second, as though he didn't fully comprehend what he just said before his face twisted into mask of rage and he leaped at the boy, straight over the pew and grabbed his hair. He brought the younger boy's face close to his eyes, eyes slitted in anger.

"I am not afraid of anyone," He growled then brought Heracles' head onto the pew as hard as he could manage, Yong Soo flinching at he sight. "Got that?"

"Y-yes...Sadik..." Heracles stuttered, blood beginning to run down his face and into his eyes, mixing with the tears that he tried in vain to hide. He was then tossed onto the floor with a thump and kicked.

"And for that comment you can sleep outside tonight," Sadik told him, watching Heracles rise slowly, hand gripping his side. The green-eyed boy walked down the isle, the cat following after him. "I don't wanna see you until the sun rises!" Sadik called as he reached the door and opened it.

"Yes Sadik," Heracles mumbled, exiting the church and closed the doors after him. The cathedral was quiet afterward, Sadik going to pick his mask back up when the youngest of their group spoke up.

"Wasn't...that a little harsh?" Yong Soo asked, making sure to stand as far away as he could.

"You wanna keep him company?" Sadik growled, glaring at the boy. Yong Soo shook his head vigorously, holding his hands up, ready to protect himself. "I thought so." The Turk turned away from him and gathered the blankets Mathew and Alfred had left. "I'm going to bed. Don't let him back in." He said before leaving to the preacher's office, slamming the door behind him.

"Fucking Heracles," He growled to himself, removing his hoodie and threw it on the desk then began to make a mask-shift bed on the floor. It didn't matter what Heracles said, he was _not _afraid of Antonio. He respected him but he was not afraid of him._ 'He doesn't even deserve my respect,'_ He thought spitefully, kicking his shoes off into the corner. The only reason he didn't bother to fight back was for those two so called 'friends' of his. They would have gotten their butts beats then blamed it on him. And who was Antonio saying he was going to burn down Sadik's church, with Sadik in it!

He sat down on his pallet and gently touched the scars on his face, tracing them with his fingers. If it wasn't for Antonio he wouldn't have them! If it wasn't for Antonio he wouldn't be living in a church like a hobo with his brother and idiot friend! "Damn it!" He hit his fit onto the ground and laid back, staring at the ceiling. Next time Antonio decided to show his face around here again he'd show him that he couldn't be pushed around, just like he told him before. _'Damn Antonio. Next time I see him I'm cutting a pattern into his face,'_ he thought, closing his eyes and rolled onto his side, letting sleep take him away.

"Heracles," The green-eyed boy looked up at the sound of his name, seeing Yong Soo come out the church.

"You shouldn't be out here. Sadik will get mad," He told him, petting the cat in his lap. Yong Soo sat down on a step next to his friend, glancing behind at the open door for a moment.

"He went to bed, he won't know." He told him, then pulled out a dirty rag. "Here," he said, handing it to him.

"Thanks," Heracles put the rag to his still bleeding head, wiping a bit off his face with his fingers.

"Heracles...why do you stay? He treats you worse than me and you two are related." There was pure curiosity in Yong Soo voice but also compassion for his friend. Who would want to stay with someone who gets treated that badly by a sibling?

"He's my brother," Heracles replied simply, not bothering to look at the Asian.

"There has to be more to it than that,"

"...I have no where else to go,"

"Why don't you go home then?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he quickly regretted them. Yong Soo had only been with the brothers for about three weeks and neither of them had bothered to explain what they were doing on the streets. Heracles mainly just said 'family trouble' and kept it at that. The way he spoke the words made Yong Soo know it was more than just trouble. "I...I'm sorry. I-i didn't mean it," he apologized.

"No...it's alright. I wish I could go home..." Heracles muttered then looked up to the stars. His mother had taught him about the stars long ago, before Sadik and his father entered their family. Every time he looked at them he always thought of her. "Yong Soo, what was your mother like?" he asked suddenly.

"Oh...well I don't really remember much about her. She died when I was three," Yong Soo replied.

"I guess we have something in common. Both our mother's are dead," Heracles stated softly, then looked to his friend who was watching him curiously. "You should probably go back inside now. Sadik's going to yell at your for being out here," he told him. "I'll be fine," he added before the boy could protest.

"If you say so. But you know you don't have to stay out here," Yong Soo said, standing up.

"It's fine. It's warm out so I won't get cold. Good night, Yong Soo."

"Night, Heracles." Yong soo walked back into the church, closing the doors after him. Heracles sighed and leaned back against the church, closing his eyes. He really did wish he could go home...if only he had a home to go back to.

Antonio's gang finally made it back home with Mathew and Alfred in tow. "That was shit. I'm going back to bed," Gilbert said crankily as they entered the apartment, turning the lights on.

"Not yet, Gil." Toni said, a hand on Mathew and Alfred's shoulder. "Go get the first aide kit. Lud, go get me a wet rag." The brother's ran off and Antonio directed the younger boys into the living room, sitting them on the couch. He gingerly lifted Alfred's head up to look at the cut, blood steadily running down his face.

"Is he going to be okay? That's a lot of blood." Mathew asked quietly, holding his brother's hand tightly. Ludwig arrived with a wet towel and Gilbert set the first aide kit down.

"He'll be fine," Tonio replied, wiping the blood off the boy. "Head wounds always bleed a lot but it doesn't look too deep. That's going to leave a nasty scar though." He opened the case and pulled out a spray of disinfectant, instructing Alfred to close his eyes while he sprayed it.

"Hey um...t-thank's man..." Alfred said as the older boy took some gauze and tapped it to his head.

"No problem. But you should really be thanking your brother for saving your _culo_. If he didn't come to us you'd be a lot worse off," Antonio said, closing his first aide kit.

"Thanks, bro." Alfred said and Mathew gently smiled at him. He then whacked him in the back of of the head.

"Ow, what was that for?" Mathew complained, rubbing his now sore head.

"Don't you ever do something as idiotic as that again!" Alfred scolded him then pulled him into a hug. "You could have gotten hurt or worse." He then turned his blue-eyed glare at the Spaniard. "And you-"  
>"Trust me, he wasn't going to hurt him while I was there. It was perfectly safe." Antonio said, handing off the supplies to Gilbert.<p>

"How do you know that guy anyways?" Alfred said, releasing Mathew.

"Sadik? Him and his brother were the first two to join my gang. After about a year they left." He told him, stretching his arms upward. "Now, I don't know about you two but I'm tired. My offer still stands if you want to stay here." he said. The brothers looked at each other, Mathew with his wide, violet eyes and Alfred with a frowning mouth. They stared at each other for a long moment, as though having a silent conversation before Al sighed and looked to Antonio who knew the answer before he even said it.

"Well, it's not like we can go anywhere else. I guess we can stay here."

"_Bien." _Antonio smiled a the two and clasped his hands together. "We're a bit short on rooms so you two can have Gilbert's and Gil can sleep with Ludwig."

"Why do they have to have my room?" Gilbert complained, folding his arms over his chest. "Why can't they take West's and he come to my room?"

"Does it make a difference, Gilbert?" Antonio questioned.

"Yeah, it does. That's _my_ room." The albino replied with a scowl. Antonio narrowed his eyes at the younger boy but Gilbert jerked his chin upward defiantly.

"How about this, Gilbert. You either give those two your room or you can sleep on the couch with Ivan. Take your pick."

"That is totally unawesome," Gilbert muttered.

"Take it or leave it. I'm pretty sure Ivan wouldn't mind having someone to spoon with." Gilbert glanced to the taller boy earning a smile that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Fine," He finally said and stomped off towards his brother's room. Meanwhile Mathew and Alfred were looking at Antonio as though asking him was that such a good idea.

"Don't mind him. He'll be better in the morning. He just doesn't like being woken up in the middle of the night." Antonio said, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh. "Come on, I'll show you to the room. Everyone else you can go back to bed now." The boys followed after Antonio into Gilbert's room which consisted of a bed, a few clothes thrown onto the floor, a half empty closet and three posters of half naked girls on the walls. Mathew could feel his cheeks flood with blush and he resisted the childish urge to close his eyes. Living in a house with Francis he had seen plenty of things like this but it never failed to make him turn his head away modestly while his cheek flared. "Well if you need anything you know where my room is, bathroom is next door, and the kitchen is off limits until the morning. You guys got any questions?"

"Yeah," Alfred said after situating himself on the bed. "Why are you doing this for us? You don't know us and we don't know you." Tonio smiled at the two and leaned against the door frame.

"It's like I told you earlier, everyone needs a chance. You're young and have no place to go so it's best you take the offers given to you. And as my _papi_ always said, never question a good thing." He told them. "So if you don't have anymore questions, I'm going back to bed. _Buenas __noches_, boys." The older boy then left out the room, leaving the twins to their own devices.

"Hey Alfred," Mathew said, crawling under the blanket.

"Hmm?" Alfred muttered, getting up to turn the lights off then hopped back in.

"Are we staying here for now on?" Mathew whispered, turning to look at his brother. Alfred had a lot of pride and accepting to stay here, even for a night, took a giant toll out of it. Mathew knew if Alfred said yes he'd be admitting that he couldn't take care of them and that would practically crush him. He could see the defeat in his eyes as Alfred looked at him but was then surprised as he smiled.

"Yeah...I guess we are." He replied, wrapping his arms around the younger boy. "Who am I kidding? We were on the streets for three days and I couldn't even hold onto a gun for a week. Some great hero I am." he muttered, rolling his eyes at himself.

"But Al, you are a hero. You kept us safe, you got us food, no one can even recognize us now so we can walk around the street now. And you know what?" Mathew whispered, smiling.

"What?"

"All good hero's need a reminder that they're still human. You just got a permanent one is all." He touched the gauze on his brother's face and Alfred smirk, grabbing his hand.

"I guess. But Superman's not human." Alfred pointed out and it was Mat's turn to roll his eyes.

"Superman's not real," Alfred gasped and tightened his grip around him.

"That's not true. You take that back," Alfred told him, wiggling his fingers at Mat's sides. Mat bit his lip, trying to keep his giggles in. "Take it back, or I won't stop."

"Okayokayokay," Mathew said, giggling uncontrollably now. "He's real. He's real. Now stop before we wake someone up."

"Maybe I want to," Alfred growled in his ear. "Maybe I'll wake them up another way. Would you like that, Mattie?" He asked, kissing his brother's neck. Mathew shivered and tried to pull away.

"Alfred, we're in someone's bed." He whispered, though that didn't seem to stop his advances.

"So, they got kicked out. It's our bed now." Alfred said, wrapping his legs around his brother's. "So we can do what ever we want in it."

"A-a-alfred..." Mathew wiggled gently then stopped when he realized that wouldn't be helping his situation. "Please stop. There are people around, they can probably hear us right now." Alfred sighed and grumbled, but kept the same position.

"Fine, killjoy. Let's just go back to bed." Alfred buried his face in Mathew's hair, a smile on his lips. "But I can't stop myself from doing something in my sleep. Just a warning."

"As long as I'm not awake, I don't care." Mathew muttered, closing his eyes. It was sort of strange how just hours ago they were walking the streets, looking for a place to stay and now they had a warm bed and were joking about what inappropriate things Alfred might do in his sleep. It was...weird how relaxed Mathew was. He had almost forgotten what relaxed even felt like after being in such tense situations for the past three days. The thought put a smile on his face and he snuggled into his brother's chest with a satisfied sigh. He could feel Alfred's chest rising slowly, signaling that he was already asleep and Mathew giggled to himself. That was just like Alfred, playful one second and asleep the next. "Good night, Alfred." He whispered, drifting off himself.

"Would you just fucking go to sleep already?" Lovino growled, watching Toni look out the window.

"Sorry, Lovi. I guess I'm a little restless after that run in with Sadik." Antonio said, dragging himself away from his window and crawled into bed next to the Italian. "Every time I see him I just...start thinking, you know?"

"Well maybe if you didn't run after those two brats you'd be asleep." Lovino said, pulling the blankets over himself. "Fuck that, I'd be asleep."

"Now, Lovi. Don't blame them. Besides, you saw them too. They'd be a good asset for us." Antonio said.

"Don't see fucking how," Lovino grumbled. Antonio smirked at him and ruffled his hair, only to get his hand pushed away.

"They're brave. And apparently know a bit more about survival then a certain someone I know,"

"Shut up,"

"Besides, I love the way they work together. Everyone here can barely go five minutes with out arguing yet those two...just watching them decide if they wanted to stay here it was like they were talking telepathically. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two from them." Antonio shrugged and smiled at the ceiling. It also helped that they were so _innocent_ looking, especially Mathew. All it took was a glance for that lady to give up her meal to him then Alfred swiped everything else. They worked together perfectly. If adults trusted them, enough to get into their house for at least a night, Toni could see those two as being more than an asset. He would have to keep an eye on those two...especially Mathew. Alfred seemed to rotate around him, everything he did was for his brother. As long as Mathew wanted to stay Alfred would stay, so he'd just have to make sure that Mathew wanted to stay here.

"What are you smiling about, bastard?" Lovino asked, glancing to Antonio.

"Nothing, Lovi. But I think things are going to start looking up around here."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Before I being my note I would just like to thank sarrias for giving me crituqes in each chapter. I think I did a lot better on this chapter on this chapter than the last two because of those comments of yours. Thank you very much! Now on to the real note. I'm sorry if any of these guys seem OOC, especially Sadik. I know nothing about his character except that he doesn't really like Heracles. So please forgive me? Other than that, if anyone else seems like it then I meant to do it to fit into the story. OOC is bad but sometimes it is needed-just a little though. Like I said before, I think I did much better job on this chapter than the past two. High five for me! Anyways, I know you have questions about a few things and you know what? I have answers! But you're not getting them until later on so haha! Anyways, comments, critiques, constructive criticism is always welcome. Also! I'm thinking about changing the name of the title but what do you guys think? Should I keep it or no? Please respond. Gracias! ~Ciao! Love Stripes!_


	7. Toni's story

Alfred awoke groggily to the sun shining through the window and he groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. For a minute he almost thought he was back home with Francis and when he opened his eyes he'd see Mat in the bed next to his and hear Francis calling the boys down for breakfast. In the back of his mind something whispered that the past few days had been nothing more than bad dream but of course that wasn't the case. "Mattie," He whispered hoarsely, pushing the blanket off his head and opened his eyes. "Mattie?" He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, looking around the foreign room.

"Oh, you're up." Al looked to the door where his brother came in, a small smile on his face. "I thought you'd never wake up."

"What time is it?" Alfred muttered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and stood up with a stretch.

"Um, I think about nine 'o clock, but I'm not sure. Come on, Gilbert's cooking breakfast." Mathew waited for Alfred to grab his glasses and join him before they both walked out the room in time to hear a shrill alarm go through the apartment.

"Ah! What the fuck is that?" Alfred said, covering his ears.

"Sounds like a smoke detector." Mathew replied before it went off.

"The Hell..." Alfred muttered before watching Antonio and an extremely angry Lovino come from their room. The twins looked at each before following them. Apparently the alarm had woken everyone else up and they were all gathered in the kitchen, most glaring murderously at the albino with a pan in his hand.

"Alright, who let Gilbert cook?"Antonio said, looking around the gathered group of boys. Gilbert looked around then pointed to Ludwig who in turned pointed Yao, the Chinese boy pointing to Kiku, the Japanese boy pointing to Ivan who pointed back to Gilbert. "Cute," The Spaniard muttered unamused before his Italian companion face palmed and started muttering curses under his breath. "Alright, Gilbert out the kitchen! Since you burned the last of our eggs-"

"How the fuck do you burn eggs?" Lovino cut in, glaring at the albino.

"You have to go and get breakfast." Toni finished. He then sighed and turned to the newest additions of his group. "Sorry about that. Gilbert knows he shouldn't be cooking-"

"Fuck you!" Gilbert called from his room.

"But apparently he doesn't listen to us. So anyways, you guys sleep well?" Everyone dispersed from the kitchen, returning to their respective rooms to get dressed and prepare for the day. Toni lead the twins to the small table outside the kitchen and sat down, Lovino joining them.

"Yeah, I guess." Alfred mumbled. It was actually the best sleep he'd had in days with all things considering.

"Good," Antonio smiled and Alfred was beginning to get the feeling he did that a lot.

"This is a very...um...diverse group of people you have here." Mat said quietly, looking down to the stuffed bear in his arms.

"Yeah. You'd think I'd sailed all around the world to get these guys but some how they all just...sort of showed up." Toni shrugged and placed his hands on the table. "Except for Lovi, I found him." He said, smiling fondly at the Italian who looked less than amused. "But for the most part they're all good guys."

"Hey, could you tell one of your ninja's I want my gun back? I paid good money for that." Al told him, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'll look into it. Actually, I'm pretty sure Yao wouldn't like you calling him a ninja all the time."

"Which one was that? They both look a like." If Toni didn't know any better he'd say Alfred was being deliberately offensive to his gang. Funny...

"Yao is the one with the brown hair and Kiku has black hair."

"Alright, and who are the two Nazi's?" Lovino then rolled his eyes and muttered something that Alfred was pretty sure he didn't want to understand.

"You shouldn't call them that-at least when they're around. Ludwig-that's the younger one, blond-he may ignore you but Gilbert-the guy that burnt our breakfast-he might just punch you in the face." Antonio explained and Alfred nodded.

"Yeah, he seems like the 'I'll punch you in the face if you fuck with me' kind of guy." Alfred commented. "And your commie?"

"Alfred!" Mathew groaned, looking at this older twin. "I've told you time and time again that they're not commies anymore."

"That's only what they want you to think. That way they can lure us into a false sense of security then bam!" He slammed his hands on the table dramatically. "TAA."

"TAA?" Antonio questioned, cocking his head to the side.

"Total American Annihilation." Mathew elaborated and Alfred nodded once more.

"I assure you we don't want to blow you up, only enslave you." Alfred screeched as he heard a voice in his ear and turned to look at Ivan who was smiling at him-creepily so at that.

"I...you...the fu..." Alfred then closed his mouth and watched the Russian saunter into the kitchen. He then turned to look at Antonio. "Please tell me he was joking."

"You know...sometimes I don't know." Toni admited, ever so seriously before breaking out in a grin. Al couldn't tell if he was joking either. "But anyways, that's Ivan. He sleeps on the couch because all the other rooms are taken. So if you see a half naked fifteen year old Russian getting dressed in the living room just walk away."

"Fifteen? And he's that tall?" The twins looked at each other, eyes wide.

"That must have been some growth spurt," Mathew muttered.

"No, he's always been that fucking tall." Lovino piped in, sending a glare to the kitchen. "He's just going to keep getting taller until his head smashing into the damn ceiling." Toni chuckled lightly and attempted to wrap his arms around the Italian but was fended off with a sharp shove.

"Don't mind, Lovi. He doesn't really like Ivan," The Spaniard said.

"That's an understatement." Lovino stated, getting up from the table, going back into his and Toni's room. Antonio laughed again, leaning back in his chair.

"And that's my Lovino. He's actually really nice...you know on the inside," He defended him, glancing to Yao who had come back out. "Deep on the inside,"

"You've must have cut him open, aru." Yao quipped, brushing his long hair into a pony tail with a black rubber band. "He has yet to say or do anything nice for anyone around here. Including you, aru."

"That you know of," Antonio purred with a sly smile. Yao give him a disgusted look before putting his brush into his back pocket, something silver flashing when he lifted his shirt up.

"Hey!" Alfred suddenly said, making the people at the table jump at the sudden shout. He pointed to Yao, his brows furrowed. "You! Yao! I want my gun back! I paid good for money that. Too much for it be stolen." he growled at him. The Chinese boy rolled his eyes, giving the younger boy a patronizing look.

"You don't have to shout, aru." He told him, turning around. "Fine, I'll give it back." he muttered, going back into the hallway.

"Only because he doesn't know how to fire a gun. Trust me, I've seen him. I'm pretty sure you're a better shot than he is." Toni said with a smile on his lips. "Where'd a little guy like you get a gun anyways? I'm pretty sure you don't have a permit to carry one."

"I'm pretty sure you don't have a permit to go around ordering your goonies to steal from people but you do it anyways," Alfred said, folding his arms over his chest with a challenging look. Toro smiled pleasently at him and laughed.

"Touché," He said. " But a guy's gotta make a living somehow. This is how I make mine." He shrugged, case close. Dog eat dog world as the saying goes. "So, you're not telling me?" he insisted.

"I'm bought it...from a guy...with my allowance." Alfred finally said, looking to the side. The older boy laughed again, louder than before. "Hey, that's not funny!" Al said, his cheeks flaring up.

"_Lo siento, amigo_. I'm sorry. It's just...you bought that with your allowance? Most kids get candy or video games, you bought a gun. Did you grow up in the ghettos?"

"No!" Alfred answered immediatly, Mathew paling at the thought. "Our adoptive dad just knew some shoddy people and I didn't trust them. So I bought it in case one of them decided to try something on me or Mattie. S'not like he even knew, he never bothered to check to see what we were getting. For all he knew I was doing drugs." The blue eyed boy snorted and rolled his eyes. "He was such a ditz." Among a few other things but Al wasn't going to say anything Toni or his group didn't need to know.

"Sounds like it. Probably better than my father." Toni replied, shaking his head. "My dad was a real _burro_."

"A what?" Alfred said, cocking his head to the side.

"An asshole," Antonio reiterated.

"Trust me, ours was most likely worse." Alfred said, feeling Mathew grab his hand underneath the table. He glanced to his younger siblings, seeing the look in his eyes-he didn't want to hear anymore about it. "Anyways!" Alfred then said, loudly, giving the boy's hand a squeeze before letting it go. "I got a question." he stated.

"_Que_?" Toni said, seeming to not even notice the change in subject.

"How old are you? You seem kind of young to be running your own gang here. And how old is everyone else?"

"Seventeen, oldest one here." Toni said, grinning happily. "Ivan, Lovi, and Yao are all fifteen. Gilbert is fourteen and Ludwig and Kiku are only thirteen. How old are you guys?" he returned the question.

"Thirteen. We turn fourteen in July," Mathew answered quietly, happy to be off the subject of their father, his bottom beginning to ache at the thought.

"Pretty young to be on your own. I gotta hand it to you, you said...three days right?" Antonio said.

"Yeah,"

"That's pretty good for someone your age. You guys are smart, y'know? Scamed that lady out of her food, stole her purse, dyed your hair. A lot smarter than I was when I ran away," The Spaniard smiled sheepishly, putting his hand behind his head. "Nearly got killed on a few accounts. But then again New York isn't like Madrid."

"Madrid, Spain?" Mathew asked, eyes wide. "How'd you get all the way from there to here? That's thousand's of miles away _over_ the ocean."

"Oh, it was fun." There was a michevious sparkle in the boy's eyes as he began to talk. "I ran away when I was fourteen. Like I said my _padre_ was a real _burro_. Used to beat me so hard I nearly passed out. I couldn't take it anymore so I ran out at night. All I had with me was a bag of clothes, some bread, a few Euros, and a knife. I travled for two days, hitch hiking rides and walking on foot. I actully stole this guys bike once, that's how I got this scar." He pointed to an old scar on the inside of his arm. "I won the knife fight and took off, biking the rest of the way to Seville. That was probably my most dangerous night. When I went to sleep that night I woke up maybe a few hours later with a drunk going through my bag, probably looking for some money. I tried to scare him off but he wasn't having it. Let's say he was more experienced with a knife and I nearly lost an ear that night." He bent his head and folded his ear, showing a scar that went all around the back. "He got a few good cuts in-I don't think I got any-before I was finally rescued by a shipman. He chased the guy off and patched my ear up for me. He asked me what I was doing out at that time of the night and I couldn't bring myself to lie to him. He had just saved me from possibly dying, the least I could do was tell him what I had been up to. So I told him I ran away from home and was hoping to get a rid to America.

"He laughed at me and told me I had some balls for running away. He said and I qoute 'I like you, kid. I'll take you with me to America...for a price.' He should have known a run away like me wouldn't have much money but I gave him all I had and he took me to New York, New York. I didn't have any immagration papers or a passport so as soon as we hit shore I ran for it. I didn't know a lick of English and that first night was the hardest. I couldn't talk to anyone, couldn't read the signs, and everyone stared at me as though they knew I was an illegal. I kept waiting for the police to come and deport me back. Everytime I heard a siren I ran for the closest thing that could hide me."

"So how'd you learn English then? If it wasn't for your accent I'd say English was your native language." Mathew asked.

"I hid around New York for about three days, dodging the police everywhere I could, stealing from people and sleeping in ally ways. Finally I found a neighborhood full of Hispanics and it felt like I was almost back in Spain. I made a few friends-some of them more illegal than me if you get my drift-and they taught me English. I joined my first gang and learned the ways of the streets-how to steal, who to steal from, the best place to hide from the police, and the best and worse places to sell."

"Sell?" Alfred cocked his head to the side. "You mean...like drugs?"

"Exactly. We made it a business to sell drugs, mainly weed but some of the older boys sold other stuff like coke or herion. It was a good way to make money, 'cept when you got addicted to it." He sighed and shook his head, as though he had seen that scenario too many times. "'Course, I can't talk. You sell the product you want to try it yourself, y'know?"

"You don't look like a druggie." Alfred commented, but then again he didn't actually know what a druggie looked like except what he's seen on TV or heard about from other people-or from Dave Chapple. He made a good drug addict.

"I don't do the hard stuff, only weed. Good for relaxing." Antonio nodded. "But that's beyond the point. I only stayed with them for about...a year. Word got out that the police were going to do a raid so I bounced. Not even a week later I heard about some of my friends getting busted and going to jail. I had learned everything I needed to by then, even if my English wasn't the best. I decided to leave the big city and head for somewhere else, somewhere a little smaller where I wasn't very well known. That's how I came here. I started this gang when I was about fifteen and a half and it's just kept growing." The green eyed boy smiled proudly at his words, looking almost like a father talking about his children.

"So how'd everyone else get mixed up in this?" Alfred asked as Yao finally came back, putting the gun on the table.

"We have a rule, aru. Don't ask anyone where they came from and why they ran away unless they're willing to tell." He explained, as Alfred popped the clip out to check how many bullets were in. The Chinese boy rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"So you're all run aways?" Mathew asked, pushing his glases up his nose.

"Yep," Toni replied, nodding. "Every single one of us. All for something different. If we had a gang name we'd most likely be The Runaways. But of course-"

"That would be plagerism." Mathew smiled gently at the little joke and Toni looked surprised for a moment before he joined in the smiling.

"How'd you know I was going to say that?" He asked.

"I have a thing for the classics." Mathew replied, messing with a stray curl on his head. Alfred looked confused for a moment, glancing back and forth between his twin and Antonio. If he didn't know any better he'd say Mattie was...flirting. But of course that was impossible. Mathew was too shy to flirt with anyone, especially right in front of him. It must have been something else. He opened his mouth to say something before Gilbert burst through the door, a few bags in his hand.

"Who's hungry?" The albino called, throwing the bags on the table. "We got fried rice, we got dumplings, sweet and sour chicken, teryiaki, egg rolls, and of course fortune cookies!" He immetated ringing a dinner bell, throwing his coat off. "Come and get it!"

"Ooh, you got all the major food groups." Lovino said with a scowl, walking back in. "Crappy, greasy, shit, and fortune cookie." he grumbled, catching the tomato that was thrown in his direction.

"Hey, be lucky I got you that. I was seriously considering not even bothering but I knew you'd bitch at me if I didn't." It was then Mathew noticed that Gilbert was visibly sweating, his face even a little red. He knew it was pretty warm but Gilbert wasn't gone for very long and this definetly was not sweating weather.

"Hey...Gilbert right?" He said quietly. "You're albino, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" He said, reaching into the bag and pulled out a box of fried rice.

"Well...if I remember, albino's are sensitive to the sun aren't they? How can you go outside?" Mattie asked, hoping he wasn't being rude.

"I shouldn't be going outside, but 'almighty Toro'," Here he made qoutes with his fingers. "Think's its a sutiable punishment to make me go outside for a while and get food when I 'act up'." He shot a glare at his leader who returned it with one of his smiles. "_Arschloch_," he mumbled. "If I get burned to a crisp, I'm blaming you."

"If you get burned to a crisp I'll feel terrible remorse." Antonio feigned fainting, placing his hand on the back of his head.

"If my brother gets burned to a crisp, I'm going to gag then torture you." Ludwig pipped in, grabbing a few containers.

"Oh Ludwig, I didn't know you were that kinky." Toni smiled slowly at the young blond who's cheeks were painted a fierce red at the comment. "If that happens you're going to happen to fight Lovino, though, you know that. Lovi doesn't like to share."

"I-you-shut-" Ludwig stuttered before turning away, face turning even redder. He heard his older brother laugh and he glared at him. "_Bruder_, it's not funny!" he growled.

"Kesese, yes it is. You should see your face! It's redder than that tomato over there!" Gilbert laughed. Ludwig growled lowly to himself before his fist came out, colliding with his older brother's jaw before he walked away. Gilbert didn't even seem phased by the attack and continued to laugh. "Gott, I swear there is nothing better than messing with my brother and the fact that he loves some of the weirdest shit."

"You mean you weren't joking?" Mathew's violet eyes were wide with horror.

"Oh, yeah. Ludwig loves that kinky shit or at least she likes looking at it. Kid's still virgin." Gilbert explianed, going into the kitchen to grab some silverwear.

"Oh," Mathew muttered, looking to Alfred. "That's..."

"Wierd," Alfred finished, patting Mathew's leg gently. Mattie was just too innocent for his own good but dear Lord that blush on his cheeks just made him look adorabe! "And kinky," he added, smiling at Mathew, hoping to lighten his mood a bit. It didn't work. Time for another change of subject-lucky thing for Alfred, he was very good at those. "So, Toni. If no one here is allowed to ask why someone ran away, how do you guys know you can trust each other? For all you know one of you guys could be a mass murderer." he asked.

"Oh, we all know everyones reasons. Well, that is besides Kiku's and Ivans. Those are the only two who haven't bothered to tell anyone yet. We don't push it. Until then, that's the part about being in a gang. It's a dangerous thing but you have to trust the people in your gang not to kill you or rat on you. We trust them," Lovi snorted unhappily and Toni rolled his eyes. "Okay, everyone but Lovi trust them. But then again, Lovi doesn't trust anyone. Sometimes I'm afraid he doesn't trust me." He smiled at his boyfriend who didn't return it.

"Sometimes I don't know if I should trust you. Your constant smiling freaks me the fuck out," Lovino told him, sitting down next to Toni.

"It just freaks you out because you barley smile." Toni said, bending over to lick a bit of juice off Lovi's lips. "Mm, Lovi. You taste good." he said, licking his own lips.

"Children in the room, children in the room." Gilbert called, rolling his eyes. "And no one wants to see that."

"I'm pretty sure Alfred and Mathew don't mind. Do you boys?" Toni gave them a wry smile and Alfred internally gasped. He couldn't know could he? No, he couldn't! That was impossible! He glanced to Mathew and could see his own distress mirrored in twin's eyes. They were both thinking the same thing. _'Toni couldn't know_,' Antonio then laughed when Lovino smacked him upside the head.

"If you wanted some just say so, bastard. Don't go licking my lips!" Lovino growled, wipping his lips off. "I don't know where your tongue has been."

"I think you do," Toni sang, smirking at the Italian who proceeded to get even redder-if that was possible.

"B-bastard," Lovino stuttered, finishing off his tomato as Gilbert began to laugh again. "Shut up you damn, potato bastard!" he shouted, only seeming to make him laugh even more.

"Lovi, you're so cute when you're mad!" Antonio cooed, bringing the boy into a tight hug.

"Let me go! Chigi!" Lovino struggled, pushing against the Spaniard. Lovino let him go, chuckling lowly. "Damn it," Lovino growled, getting up and exited to the kitchen, muttering to himself in Italian.

"I love that boy," Antonio said then smiled at the twins. "So boys, I know it's early but I want to know. Are you guys planning on staying here?" he asked pleasently.

"Well...it's not like we have anywhere else to go." Alfred muttered, glancing to Mathew. It had been settled last night but if Mathew had changed his mind Alfred was ready to leave at a moments notice. Apparently, though, Mathew was still set on staying. Whether Antonio knew about the two acting a little more than unbrotherly had bothered him but the young boy knew there was no other place for the twins and this was most likely the safest place for them. "So yeah, I guess we're staying." Antonio smiled widely and Alfred could see why it bothered Lovino so much. Did he do anything other than smile?

"_Bueno_! I'm glad you've decided to stay." Toro said happily. "Welcome to the group! Since you two are staying you're permantly moved into Gilbert's room."

"Hey!" Gilbert complained, mouth agape.

"No questions, Gilbert. We're running out of room and you know that. You're staying with your brother and that's final." Antonio said, voice laced with finality.

"Fine," The albino growled with a frown. He set the food on the table and stalked off, most likely to gather his stuff.

"He'll get over it soon." Antonio said with a shrug. "So, now that you two are offically part of my gang there's a little something I need you to do." He smiled once again but his eyes narrowed, giving Alfred the impression of an evil smile.

"Like what?" He asked warrily, the evil grin only growing.

"Well, every gang has an indoctrine program. Here, every one different indoctrine. I have something special planned for you two."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Oh God! This took me too long and I'm terribly sorry for the wait and the crappiness of this chapter! I tried, I really did! But I've been so busy and my muse has been so low for this story! It seemed like my mind wanted to give me muse for everything but this story! I'm so sorry! orz Anyways, yeah, not much going on in this chapter. I mainly made it for a bit of comic relife and to give some insight onto Toro. Next chapter you're really gonna like though, I promise! If there are any spelling mistakes in this I'm so sorry! I made most of this at my grandma's and she doesn't have spell check! So, like always. Comments are appreciated and loved. Seriously! Oh and yes, they live in New York but I kept the city vauge because I'm not too sure where they live. That's all for now. ~Ciao! Love Stripes!_


	8. Authors note

A quick authors note to my readers: I am incredibly sorry for making you wait so long! I've been working on it when I can but I've been away from my computer for so long because I'm spending most of my time with my best friend this summer before I go off to college. When I get a chance to get home I'll email what I have so far-a good six pages so far, I'm pleased to say-I'll finish writing it up when I can! Until then hold on! I have no abandoned you guys and I will not! I have too many ideas in store for the next few chapters. So please excuse me for my lack of updating and I will try to get to it when I can. So...sorry! And I hope you keep reading when I get to update!

~Ciao! Love Stripes!


	9. Inside men

"You want us to do what?" Alfred gaped, eyes wide while Mathew just stared dumbfounded.

"You heard me. You two have to find a way into someone's home for one night." Antonio reiterated, smirking at their disbelieving expressions.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Alfred asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"That's up to you. You want to be part of this gang you have to do it."

"I-i thought gangs did things like jump ins?" Not that it sounded more pleasing but it would be quicker and have less of a chance of the brother's going to jail!

"We can't afford injuries, especially from a jump in." Toni explained.

"But breaking into someone's _house_ won't get us injured?"

"I never said you had to break in. Just get in. Think of it as a test of skills. I've only known you guys for a day but I have a feeling about what you guys might be good at."

"When Toro get's a feeling he's normally never wrong." Ivan commented, grabbing a box of teriyaki.

"I've learned to trust my instincts after a few years." The Spaniard smiled then took a bite of an egg roll. He suddenly glanced to Mathew, the violet eyed boy quietly staring at the table. "What do you think, Mathew? Is this a good challenge for you two?" He asked.

"Um," The young boy bit his lip, glancing to his brother then back to the table. In truth, Mathew wasn't very fond of the idea of going into some stranger's house. Even if it wasn't breaking and entering the idea itself just sounded...criminal. But then again that's what he was now-him and Alfred both-criminals. Alfred was a murderer and Mathew was practically his accomplice. Criminals...accomplice...gang...he felt like his life had been sucked into a television show. And before he knew it there were tears in his eyes.

"Mathew?" Alfred whispered before the boy hopped up and left to their room, closing the door after himself. Alfred looked to Antonio momentarily, the Spaniard raising a curious eyebrow before the former blond left after his brother. "Hey Mat?" Alfred said, opening the door. The walls had been stripped and the few personal belongings of it's former tenant had been removed. Sitting on the bed, back against the wall with his knees drawn to his chest was Mathew, weeping quietly. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Al asked, climbing next to him.

"I...I h-hate this." Mathew hiccuped, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Hey, we don't have to stay here. We can just tell Toni-"

"No!" Mathew cut him off then looked to him with water eyes. "This! Us! I hate the f-feeling of knowing that w-we're criminals. That w-we can n-never live a nor-normal life!" He sniffled and wiped his nose.

"It'll be alright," Alfred whispered, putting a comforting arm his shoulder.

"No, Alfred, it won't." Mathew whispered back. "We don't have a home...we can never go b-back to school..." He rested his head on his brother's shoulder. "If we were to ever get caught by the police you could go to jail. I could go to the DH." He sniffled again. "I don't want to live like that..." His voice was so quiet, Alfred had to strain to hear him.

"Mathew," Alfred whispered. "I-I'm sorry. I never thought of that." Of course the thought of going to jail had crossed his mind but he had never thought any deeper than that. Being separated from his brother...that was worse than going to jail! "Mattie, we don't have to stay here. We can leave if you want. I..." He trailed off. What else could he say? They could leave but anywhere they went they'd still be criminals. They would always have to hide, never be apart of public society again. "We could leave," He said again.

"We can't though," Mathew whispered, bringing a hand through his short hair. "This is our only option,"

"I know," Alfred whispered back, closing his eyes.

The two sat in silence, both stewing in their thoughts before finally Mathew sighed and raised his head. "Let's do it," He said.

"W-what?" Alfred stuttered.

"Let's do Toni's initiation."

"Really?" Alfred cocked his head to the side, staring at his twin.

"Well, we both know we have no where else to go. There's nothing else we can do and this is the only thing we can do." The younger reasoned, drying his eyes of the rest of the tears with his shirt. His voice was unhappy but he knew as much as he hated this life this was the only thing the two could do. No where was safe and a home was a home no matter what they had to do to keep that home. "So let's just do it and get it over with."

Alfred stared then smiled at him, suddenly putting into a head lock and gave him a noogie. "You are so bi-polar!" He teased him.

"I am not! Stop it!" Mathew cried, a small smile on his lips.

"You big cry baby! 'Boo-hoo, I'm Mathew! I'm a criminal! I'm over it now! Let's break into people's houses!'" He mocked him, letting his brother go.

"He said he we didn't have to break in. Just get in." Mathew said, fixing his hair and glasses.

"You got any ideas on how?" Alfred questioned.

"Um, a few..."

The twins exited the room, a strategy planed out in their minds as they returned to Toni who hadn't left his seat at the table-thought his legs were now thrown up on the surface while he munched some fried rice. "Oh, you're back!" He said happily, as though Mathew hadn't run out crying. "Foods almost gone so you better take what you can before Lovi eats the rest. He's so small yet he eats so much! I keep waiting for him to blow up!"

"I heard that, you bastard!" Lovino called from the living room, a few of the other boy gathered around to watch TV.

"_Te quiero_!" Antonio called back, giggling to himself. The two former blonds looked to each other then back to the Spaniard.

"Uh..." Alfred mumbled quietly, glancing to his brother, waiting for any sign that he didn't want to do this. None. He cleared his throat nervously-no, not nervously. He was Mattie's her and hero's definitely did not get nervous. "Um...w-we'll do your indoctrine thing or initiation or whatever." He finally said. Toro beamed at them, finishing off the last of his food.

"Good, good. Do you know how you're going to do it?"

"Sort of," Alfred replied. "We just need a victim,"

"Please don't say it like that, Alfred! I feel like we're about to kill someone." The violet eyed boy paled at his own words, looking down to his feet.

"Nice choice of words, but you don't have to anything that drastic...yet." Antonio assured him, smiling gently. "But since we don't want you walking into the house of a serial killer I'll help you out a bit. Kiku will take you to the park and show you your first 'victims'."

"Why the park?" Mathew asked.

"Because serial killer's don't go to parks, duh!" Alfred stated, as though it were completely obvious. "At least not in the day time."

"You may or may not be right but there are other dangers that lurk in the day time." The three teenagers swiveled their heads around to look at Kiku, the small Japanese boy holding a carton of white rice and chop sticks, seeming to come from no where.

"Just the man I wanted to see!" Toni said cheerily. "When you're ready-and after I change Alfred's gauze-I need you to take these two to the park to find the two blonds-the euros."

"Yes, sir." Kiku said, exiting to the kitchen.

"Dude doesn't say much, does he?" Alfred commented, snatching up the last of the food for him and his brother.

"Not really, no. He's been like that since I've known him which hasn't been very long. Only a few months so far." The Hispanic boy replied. "He's so quiet you can't hear him coming half the time. Scares the shit out of everyone when he does speak."

"Sounds like Mattie. Dude's like a ghost. I think he turns invisible sometimes." Alfred said.

"That's not true," Mathew defended himself.

"Mattie? Where'd you go? I can't see you!" Al put his hands in front of him, feeling Mathew's face. "I told you you were invisible!"

"Jerk," Mathew muttered with a smile.

"You love me," Was Alfred's reply. He then turned back to Toni. "So, how long do I have to keep this gauze on my face?" He asked, resisting the urge to start picking at it.

"You can take the gauze off but depending on how fast you heal you have to keep it covered a few more days at the most. I don't want it to get infected if you take it off." The green-eyed boy informed him.

"You seem to know a bit about medical things." Alfred said, popping a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"I've seen a few injuries worse than yours. I learned a thing or two about cuts and scrapes from leading a gang. You should always be prepared for the worse when you bang." Antonio shrugged, hopping up from the table. "Let me go get the first aide while you eat." He said, walking away from the table.

"You sure you want to do this?" Alfred said quietly, looking to his brother while they ate.

"I'm sure," Mathew replied as Antonio came back.

"So, if we're going into someone's house how will we, like, know when we can leave? Do we just up and leave in the middle of the night or...what?" Alfred asked as the Spaniard peeled the gauze off his face and began to clean the cut once again of the dried blood.

"Don't worry, you'll know when you can." Tonio replied, placing a large band aid over the cut. "There, all good now! When you guys are ready just get Kiku and you'll be on your way!" He smiled at them then began to clean up the table of the empty food cartons.

"You ready then?" Alfred asked, looking to Mathew who looked just a little more than apprehensive.

"Yeah, I guess." Mathew replied quietly, standing up.

"Good, let's go." Both of the boys turned to look at Kiku who-once again-popped up from just about no where.

"Dude, how do you do that?" Alfred asked, getting just a hint of a smile from the Japanese boy.

The three boys left the apartment immediately after, traveling north towards the large park that held a playground, a gazebo with a few chairs and a picnic table, and a path for joggers and dog walkers. "So!" Alfred began, riding the group of the silence that had lasted since they had left. "Kiku, right? What was your initiation test thing?" He asked.

"Ah, it was a relatively simple task, almost like your own but not as long. Antonio saw that I was very quiet and very good on my feet so he asked me to go into someone's house with out them knowing." The black haired youth replied.

"Breaking into someone's house? And you actually did it?" Alfred looked almost taken back. He wouldn't peg the small quiet boy as the B&E type of guy.

"Yes, like I said it was very simple. The only difficult part about it was I had to start from the top floor and come down through the front door."

"So what? Did you just teleport from the ground and some magical way you ended up on the top floor?"

"Of course not! I'm climbed!" Kiku told him, giving him a sideways glance.

"You climbed...the side of the house?" Alfred cocked his head to the side and looked to his brother to see if he was understanding this any better than him. Apparently not by the blank look he received.

"No, I climbed the tree near the top window and got in from there. It was quiet difficult. The branches were very thin and nearly cracked. It was also winter and I had the possibility of slipping and falling about seven feet."

"Whoa," Alfred looked to him with wide blue eyes, a new respect for the boy. "You could have died and yet you still did it?"

"_Hai_. But Antonio knew what he was doing when he put me to the test. I survived and got out the house with out alerting anyone."

"But don't breaking and entering's happen all the time?" Mathew quipped in.

"Yes, but the house was very old. You could hear it creak from the outside. When I came out Antonio said his ear was to the door the whole time and he couldn't hear a thing." A hint of smile graced his lips. "Antonio is a very good judge of talent."

"Guess so. So, what does he figure mine and Mattie's talents are?" Alfred asked.

"It can't be sneaking into people's houses. Alfred isn't really the quietest of people." Said Mathew, smiling gently as Alfred gave him an unamused look.

"I am too quiet! I can be just as quiet as you!" Alfred told him(ironically, none-too-quietly).

"I'm not too sure what he thinks your talents may be. You'd have to ask him yourself." As the three chattered on, Kiku then abruptly stopped and pointed to the path. "Those there are your targets," He informed the twins, pointing out a couple. Both were men and blond, though one was much larger than his friend with a pair of glasses situated on his stoic face, the other wearing a small white beret and dog leash in his hand. "This park is part of our territory as a gang. We've seen those two enough to know they are no harm. Your task today is to get in their house by any means necessary. I wish you luck." With a bow the Japanese boy silently strode off, leaving the former blonds to their test.

"Okay," Alfred started, leaning against a tree and watched the couple walk down the path. "We're both against just breaking into someone's house. You suggested that we just trick them to let us in. Do you have any idea how that's going to happen though?" He questioned his brother.

"Well not really. That's about as far as I got," Mathew admittedly sheepishly, blushing lightly. "It can't be too hard though, right? We're not exactly the most suspicious looking people. And they look nice..." The violet-eyed youth bit his lip, beginning to doubt his own plan. "I mean, one of us could pretend to be hurt or something..."

"Aha!" Alfred stated loudly, snapping his fingers. "I got an idea!" Smiling widely, the older twin turned around and jumped high, grabbing onto a branch of the tree.

"Alfred, what are you doing?" Mathew asked with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, Mattie!" Alfred assured his brother as he scrambled up the tree, as nimble as a squirrel. "I'll just 'fall' out the tree and you call for help and bingo! We're in!" The blue eyed boy smiled down at his brother from his perch, precariously scooting onto another branch.

"Be careful, Alfred!" Mathew called up to him, violet eyes filled with worry. "Maybe we should make a new plan instead. One that doesn't involve you nearly breaking your neck."

"Hey, it was your idea. Don't back out of it no-" With a snap, the branch Alfred had balanced on had broken, sending the thirteen year old was sprawling to the ground, flat on his back.

"Oh no!" Mathew gasped, rushing over to where his brother lay. "Alfred! Alfred, are you okay?" Lowering himself on his knees, he shook the boy, tears springing into his eyes when he didn't respond. "Alfred! Say something please!"

"What...ow, my head." Alfred groaned, opening his eyes slowly.

"Oh, God, Alfred. I think I nearly had a heart attack. Stay here, I'm going to get some help!" Mathew said, turning around to see the couple from earlier coming upon the scene. "Excuse me! Can you help us?"

"Oh, what happened?" The smaller of the two asked, handing the dog leash over and ran the rest of the way. "Is he okay?"  
>"I don't know! He fell out the tree and I think he may be hurt." Mathew explained, pushing up his glasses to wipe his eyes off.<p>

"Oh no. Poor thing," The man sympathized, pulling off his hat and began to wring it in his hand. "Can you walk?" He asked Alfred.

"Ah, I'm not sure." Al replied, sitting up gently then began to stand up. "Crap," He muttered as he started to put pressure on his left leg, then leaned against the tree for support. "I guess not,"

"Oh, that's terrible. Where are your parents?" The twins looked at each other then Mathew bit his lip.

"We...don't...really have parents." He admitted, glancing up at the man then back down. "We...live on the street." He heard them both gasp and exchange a look.

"What d' we do, Tino?" The taller of the men asked, holding the wiggling dog in his arms.

"Give me the dog, Berwald, and you carry him. We'll take the boys to the hospital." Tino said.

"No!" Alfred and Mathew said at the same time before Mathew cleared his throat. "I mean, that won't be necessary. It's not broken or anything, is it Al?"

"No, I think just sprained a little." Alfred said, picking his foot up gently so it wasn't touching the ground then moved it around in a small circle, hissing in pain. "No, definitely not broken but it hurts like hell." He said through his teeth.

"Okay, good. Well I still want to make sure you're going to be okay." Tino shared a glance with his husband then replaced his hat back on his head. "You two don't mind coming home with us, at least so I can look at it?" He asked.

"That does not sound like a bad idea," Alfred said, nodding. "Mattie, you okay with that?"

"I guess," Mathew replied, still a tad uncomfortable with the thought of going home with strangers.

"Great," Tino smiled at the two then took the dog from his husband. "I'm Tino by the way. And that's my husband, Berwald." He introduced them as Berwald picked Alfred up-very gently to Alfred's surprise despite how big he was. "And no matter what Berwald says, I am not his wife." Tino added, sending a bemused look to his his green eyed lover.

"I'm Mathew and that's my brother Alfred." Mathew said, Alfred snickering at Tino's comment.

"Wife?" Al said, smirking at the blond.

"Yes, he tells everyone that." Tino admitted, smiling gently. Admittedly, it was kind of funny but he still hated being called a wife-it wasn't his fault he was smaller! It was Berwald that did most of the house work; he was the one that cooked, that adopted Hanatamago-though Tino did name her-, and that proposed they adopted a child! If anything Berwald was the wife, not him!

"'S'cute," Berwald mumbled, shifting Alfred in his arms.

"It's not cute! I'm not a female!" Tino argued, while the four plus dog walked out the park. "So I can't be a wife."

"I can solve this debate!" Alfred suddenly quipped in.

"How?" Mathew shot back.

"Who said their vows first?" Alfred asked, looking from husband to 'wife'.

"Berwald," Tino said, wondering where he was going with this.

"Then you're the wife because everyone knows that the bride always says her-or his in your case-vows after the groom!" Alfred beamed at them, proud at himself for recalling that little tid bit of knowledge. And they said movies rotted the brain! That little fact held true in every single movie had ever watched!

"But-but..." Tino stuttered, glancing to Berwald who held just the smallest of smiles on his lips. "It's not funny. I'm not a wife!"

"According to the data, you are." Alfred teased.

"Alfred," Mathew warned him. "If he say's he's not a wife, then he's not a wife."

"Thank you. Some agrees with me!" Tino said, smiling thankfully at the boy.

"S'm'wife," Berwald whispered to Alfred who snickered once more.

The group continued their playful banter as they made their way from the park, ending up just a few blocks down. The couple lived in a large, brick townhouse attached to others. Decorating the little plot of land was a plastic reindeer and something that resembled an elf riding on top. "Uh, you do know you left your Christmas decorations out, right?" Alfred said as Tino unlocked the door.

"Oh, I know. I just like Christmas and I thought it was cute so I left it out. Right, Berwald?" Tino asked.

"Mm," Berwald replied, placing Alfred on the couch gently. He then bent down and gingerly fingered the boy's ankle. "Hurt?"

"A little," Al replied, then pursed his lips as the man applied more pressure.

"'S'probably not sprained," He mumbled, standing up.

"I should probably just stay off of it for a while," Alfred said, gently rubbing the ankle, wincing. "Hey, where's the bathroom?"

"There's one down that hall," Tino said, gesturing towards the entrance hall. "Do you need some help?"

"Mattie, help me up." Mathew obliged, slipping an arm around his brother's waist while Alfred leaned on him, making sure to keep his foot up.

The two hobbled down the short hall awkwardly, Alfred glancing behind them when they made it to the bathroom. "In," He said, putting his foot down quickly and pulled Mathew in with him, closing the door after them. "We did it," He said quietly, smiling. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Hey, I thought you hurt your ankle." Mathew said accusingly.

"Nah, I just faked it. I didn't think we'd get in unless they thought I was hurt." Alfred took his glasses off and breathed on them, rubbing them on his shirt before replacing them on his face. "Pretty smart huh?"

"Yeah, I guess but next time tell me when you plan on falling out of a tree. You could have gotten seriously hurt." Mathew told him though there was a hint of a smile on his lips. In truth, that was a pretty smart idea. Only Alfred would be reckless enough to fall out of a tree and pretend to sprain his ankle.

"Actually," Alfred smiled sheepishly, placing his hand behind his head. "I...kind of did fall out the tree." He laughed in embarrassment. "I just kind of...went from there." Mathew sighed and shook his head.

"Alfred," He mumbled, a smirk pulling on his lips. "Well, we got in. That's what's matters right now," About to leave, Mathew put his hand on the knob but was stopped.

"Wait, I really do have to pee. Besides, you have to help me walk out." Alfred said, turning to the toilet.

After Alfred finished the two then hobbled back to the living room both plopping down on the couch, Mathew lifting Alfred's leg up sending him a look that said 'don't get used to this'. His brother merely smiled at him, muttering a 'Thank you, Mat.'

"So, boys are you hungry?" Tino asked, smiling at the two.

"Yes, I'm starving!" Alfred replied, despite the fact that he had just recently ate. "Do you have any hamburgers?" He asked hopefully.

"Um, Berwald do we have hamburgers?" Tino asked, looking to his husband curiously.

"Don't think so," Berwald replied.

"I think we have ground beef. Maybe we could make some hamburgers," The smaller of the two suggested.

"That would be awesome!" Alfred smiled widely at the blonds as they made their way into the kitchen. "Finally, some decent food!"

"We just had some Chinese not too long ago. How can you be hungry again?" Mathew asked, picking up Hana and set her in his lap.

"I'm a growing boy with a hurt ankle. I need food!" Alfred said, placing his hand on his stomach. "How can you not be hungry?"

"Maybe because I'm not a bottomless pit." Mathew replied, petting the dog in his lap contently.

The two then lapsed into silence, listening to the sounds of the men in the kitchen, Tino humming a song that sounded like 'Jingle Bells'. "So," Alfred then whispered, looking around for a moment then to Mathew. "How long do you think we have to stay here?" He asked.

"Well, Antonio said we'll know when we can leave. What ever that means," Mathew whispered back, shrugging.

"But we don't know when that'll be!" Alfred said a little too loudly then lowered his voice again. "That could be at five in the morning. We could be sleeping." he said more quietly.

"We'll just have to trust Antonio for now." Mathew said, looking up at his brother for a moment to watch his eyes spark. They may have accepted to live in his home but it was clear that Alfred didn't exactly trust the Spaniard.

"Right," Alfred mumbled, reaching for the TV remote, end of discussion.

"Hey, Al?" Mathew whispered after some time had went by, the smell of cooking burgers wafting through the house.

"Hm?" Alfred muttered, intent on watching a show on the old west on National Geographic channel.

"I just thought of something," Mathew glanced to his brother nervously. "We're probably on the news,"

"Wait, what?" Alfred looked at his brother, eyes wide. "What do you mean on the news?"

"Alfred, Francis was murdered and we're missing. We're either number one suspects or thought of as kidnapped victims. We have to be all over the news." Mat informed him, watching Alfred give a look of pure shock and a 'why-didn't-we-think-of-this-before?'

"Shit," Alfred mouthed, biting his lip. Even with the hair cuts and new color, with a close enough inspection they were still easily identified, especially if their pictures were on the news regularly. "What do-"

"Boys!" The two were interrupted as Tino called them from the kitchen. "Your food is done!"

"We'll talk about this later," Alfred whispered, letting Mathew help him up and to the kitchen.

The day passed by quickly for the boys, Tino and Berwald both agreeing that the boys should stay there for the night to let Alfred heal properly. "Thank you again for letting us stay here. It means a lot to us," Mathew said, crawling into the guest bed that him and Alfred would be sharing for the night.

"It's not a problem. We're happy to help, right Berwald?" Tino said, smiling gently at the boys.

"Right," Berwald mumbled, Hanatamgo situated in his arms.

"If there's anything you need don't be afraid to come to ask us." The smaller of the two blonds said.

"We won't," Alfred mumbled sleepily, burrowing his head in the pillow.

"Good night, boys." Tino said, turning off the lights.

"G'night," Berwald mumbled, following his husband/wife out the room and shut the door. When Alfred was sure the two had left into their room he sat up and looked to his brother.

"So, about earlier. Do you really think we're on the news?" he asked.

"Of course. We have to be. I'm surprised we didn't think of it earlier." Mathew replied, laying down and took his glasses off, setting them on the bedside table next to Alfred's.

"We were too freaked out to even think of it I guess," Alfred said. There was a long silence before he spoke again. "What do you think we should do?"

"There's nothing we can do. Our pictures are already up. People already know we're missing. We can only hope that no one notices us even with the changes and that's still a far stretch. Our hair may have changed but our faces are still the same." Alfred bit his lip thoughtfully then yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Well these two didn't seem to notice so I guess we're okay for now unless they just don't watch the news." He muttered.

"Could be," Mathew replied, closing his eyes. "But we're going to have to be careful for now on...or at least more careful than we already are."

"Yeah," Alfred mumbled, laying back down and wrapped his arms around his brother. "C'mon, let's go to sleep. I'm too tired to think of this anymore." He yawned again and began to feel himself drift to sleep.

"Okay," Mat snuggled into his chest, listening to his heart beat steadily, a soothing lullaby. "Night...love you."

"Love you too,"

_Tap tap tap_

Alfred yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily and looked around the dark room the brothers were sharing for the night. "Matt?" He mumbled then glanced to the window where he was sure the sound he had heard had come from. Kiku balanced himself on the branch outside the window easily, looking to him with brown eyes. "Huh?" The new brunette mumbled, hopping out of the bed and tip toed to the window, throwing it open to allow the Japanese boy in.  
>"<em>Konichiwa<em>, Alfred. Thank you for letting me in." Kiku said, smiling gratefully at him. "But we should probably go downstairs now and see to everyone else." He added.

"Wait, everyone else?" Alfred said, grabbing his glasses off the side table and put them on. "Who else is here?"

"Antonio, Gilbert, Ludwig, and Yao." Kiku replied, waiting for Alfred to wake up his brother and gather their clothes.

"Mathew, wake up. We're going." Alfred said, shaking the younger twin awake.

"We're leaving?" Mathew whispered, wiping the sleep out of his eyes and gathered his glasses on his face. "Oh...hi, Kiku." He mumbled, still half asleep.

"Hello, Mathew." Kiku said, glancing to the door and listened for any sign that someone in the house might have heard them.

"Come on, Matt. Get up. We got to go." Alfred said, putting his shoes on then handed Mathew his. After the two had re-dressed themselves the small group silently entered the hallway, looking up and down the empty hall before retreating downstairs.

"Good job, boys." Antonio smiled at the three as Alfred opened the door, his green eyes practically glowing in happiness. "You passed your test!"

"Oh, awesome!" Alfred smiled gently, then yawned again. He'd be happier tomorrow...when he wasn't tired...and full of weird Swedish food that they had eaten for dinner. "You hear that, Matt? We did it."

"Cool," Mathew smiled, leaning slightly on his brother. One day he may just get used to being woken up in the middle of night but definitely not any day soon. He hopped this wasn't going to become habit.

"You two are definitely tired. Stay right here and look out for us, we'll be right back." Antonio told them, walking into the house.

"Wait, where are you going?" Alfred asked, stopping him. "Why are you going in?" He watched as the other four entered the house, intent on the next part of their night.

"I didn't send you in there for nothing. You two are now our official inside men." Tonio explained, watching the blank expression on the young boys faces.

"Inside men?" Alfred cocked his head to the side, blue eyes conveying his confusion.

"_Si,_ now that I know you two can get in houses with out causing suspicion I'll send you in when our supply starts getting low or we need a few things." The Spaniard said.

"Wait, wait, wait...you mean...we're going to be staying at random people's houses so you guys can...steal stuff?" Alfred asked, eyes wide as the realization struck him. "You can't do that!"

"And why not?" Antonio asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Because it's wrong! Stealing from people is wrong!"

"Nice way to make yourself sound like a hypocrite." Alfred furrowed his brows, scowling in indignation.

"Me and Mattie stole because we didn't think we'd eat that night! We didn't know when we'd get the chance to eat next so we took what he could at the time!" Alfred placed his hands on his hips, unaware that his voice had risen. "But you guys have stuff! You have food and a place to sleep! You don't need to steal from people!"

"And you want to know how we got most of the stuff we do now? We stole it!" Antonio's eyes hardened as he glared at the newest addition to his gang. "We take what we can when the time is right and right now is that time. If you're going to be staying with us you're going to need to drop this righteous attitude and get with the program. Not everything we do in life is 'right'. I started this gang for people like me, people who would do anything to survive. So, I'm sorry if you don't know the exact meaning of the word 'gang' but you're going to have to deal with it."

Blue and green eyes met in a glare, tension thick in the air, neither boy daring to break contact first. Finally, Mathew cleared his throat, his skin crawling from the testosterone thickened air. "Hey, guys. I think we should leave soon. Someone might-" Before the sentence was out of his mouth a light from upstairs flickered on and Tino's voice drifted down the stairs.

"Alfred? Mathew? Is that you down there?"

"Shit," Antonio cursed then whistled. "Round it up!" He called, glancing into the home for a moment before taking off, the four boys running out the house with the remaining two trailing behind. Glancing behind him, Mathew saw Tino lean out the door with a surprised expression, eyes wide. Biting his lip, the boy turned his attention back to getting away, trying to ignore his stomach tightening viciously and the hurt he was sure he saw in the nice man's eyes.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I am sooooooo sorry everyone for the long wait! It's okay to hate me, I know you probably do even if you don't. I'm a a horrible person for making you suffer like that. I'll try not to do it again but I can promise anything. And sorry for the half-assed chapter. I totally changed the ending just a little bit ago so that has nothing to do with the wait. I'm hopping to get the next chapter up a little bit quicker than this one hopefully! Anyways, not much to say here. Does it feel like I rushed through this chapter though? I hope not. But yeah, comments as always are appreciated! Thank you for sticking with me through this horrendous writers block of mine. You are loved! ~Ciao! Love Stripes!_


	10. Authors note 2

A/N: Dang it, I told myself I wasn't going to make another author's note! I fail! Okay, let me start out by apologizing for not updating for so long! You probably all hate me by now and it's okay if you do! But-and you're probably going to hate me even more now-I'm putting this story on temporary hiatus. I originally intended this to be a one shot but I liked the idea so much I turned it into a multi-chapter fic instead. I didn't know how difficult that would be and after reading through this story a few times I figured that I didn't really like it as much as I thought I did. I'm planning on either re-doing some chapters or re-doing the whole thing all together. But I want your guy's opinions also! Should I re-do the whole story, just some chapters, or stop it all together? Please make your opinion known!

But on a side note, this story may be going onto hiatus for a while but I'm planning on starting another multi-chapter fic starring our favorite Southern Italian! So keep a look out for that! Until then guys, I'll catch you later!

~Ciao! Love Stripes as always!


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